


As Above, So Below

by LadyShinigami



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Anxiety, Blood and Torture, Corruption, Dark Web exploration, Explicit Language, F/M, Gen, Kidnapping, Levi is a red room admin on the Dark Web, Light Angst, Livestream torture, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, OC is raised in a single parent household, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Rape/Non-con Elements, Red Rooms of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:03:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyShinigami/pseuds/LadyShinigami
Summary: Having dug too deep in the underbelly of the dark web, Rosalyn Laake finds herself under a blood colored spotlight when a powerful Red Room admin sets his sights set on her. But as she soon comes to find out, the sick world above ground is no different than the one below.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first tine taking a stab at a head canon like this so please be patient with me if some things don't make sense. If you've read any of my other works then you can expect a ton of blood, course language, and violence. Meaning, its not for the faint of heart. I also want to say a massive thank you to Black_Dog (Xilianr) for helping me make this story a tad more coherent.

A man drives down a dark and deserted road at full speed in the middle of the night, clutching the steering wheel and flooring the gas peddle of his car for all that they're worth. His palms are sweating profusely while his nails dig into the wheel's leather exterior until crescent shaped indents start to form. His eyes are glued to the blackened road ahead of him, with the only source of light coming from the headlights of his car. While everything else is doused in nothing but shadows. Other than the man's heavy breathing, the only other noise to be heard in the car is the engine that's being pushed to it's absolute limits. Given his circumstances, and the fact that there were no other cars in sight, getting into a car accident would the least of his worries. It was only a matter of time before his real problems would loom over him like storm clouds in a hurricane. At any second, they would open up and drench him in torments and horrors that words alone couldn't describe in detail.  

 

 Something that was made painfully evident when he was alerted to the sound of another car engine coming up on his. All he has to do was give a quick glance up at his rearview mirror to see two more headlights that gave even more illumination to the velvet darkness of the night. But he knew better than to trust it. Just like he should have known better than to trust the wrong crowd of people. People who hid behind rehearsed lines, polished looks, and well crafted aliases. Yet underneath all of those facades, the reality was much darker and infinitely more sinister. In real life and behind keyboards.  Eventually, one bad move lead to another, then another, and another , until he was burying himself in a world of trouble that was deeper than whatever plot of land his corpse would be thrown into. Assuming, there'd even be one to discover.  

 

The car in behind him sped up to match his pace until it's front was violently propelled into his bumper, making his chest and diaphragm collided with the steering wheel like a demented version of bumper cars. This continued five more times, the repeated sound of metal hitting metal in an attempt to derail him causing tidal waves of sheer anxiety and panic to shoot through him until he began to shake in his seat; his breathing becoming labored and his heart sinking into his colon. Despite the fact that he was burning the rubber on his wheels to get away, time had slowed to a crawl around him. The inside of the car suddenly seemed smaller than what it was supposed to be, suffocating him while the car in behind him gave him another harsh ram, completely wrecking the bumper and causing the license plate to come loose.  

 

For a split second, he lost his iron clad control of the wheel but that split second was all it took for the car to swivel off the road and collide with a tree off to the left. Upon impact, the glass of the windshield shattered into pieces while the metal of the hood completely wrapped around the tree, headlights all but destroyed. Steam  from the damaged engine began to rise from the hood while the man sat partially conscious with his head pressed against the steering wheel and his arms motionless at his sides; blood dripping from both his nose and the various cuts all across his face.  Following the noise made by the crash, the blaring of the horn penetrated the dead silence of the night even if no one was around to hear it. When he started to come to, he languidly raised his head and took in his surroundings in spite of his blurred vision. The horn finally stopped, yet he was struck by a pounding in his head that made it damn near impossible for him to think straight. The rest of his body felt like lead when he tied to raise his arm to reach for the door handle, trying not to let his head lag again.   

 

Once his vision finally cleared up, the events of a few moments ago came flooding back into his mind as he scrambled to get out of the wreckage of his car; above which an angry wasps nest hung off one of the tree branches, with a few of the winged insects angrily buzzing around. Once he managed to get the door open, he tries to stand up straight but falls short when a sudden spike of pain shoots through his head. He collapses on his hands and knees, inadvertently cutting open his right hand on a larger piece of glass and now bleeding profusely. As bad as things looked now, they were about to get infinitely worse when another car door opens and closes, followed by the sounds of footsteps coming towards the bruised and battered man. He looked up from his spot on the ground, eyes locking on the darkly outfitted figure that stood at 6'5, cloaked in all black so that they blended in with the night, and clutched something in their right hand that turned out to be a gun.  

 

This sight forced another stream of adrenaline throughout the man's body, giving him the strength, he needed to stand to his feet. In his left hand, he took up the shard of glass that'd cut his other hand and brandished it in front of him, his only means of defending himself.  The shadowy figure came towards him with silent but confident footsteps, taking his time and savoring the helplessness of their prey. An omen of pain ready and waiting to cut down it's intended target. While on the receiving end, the injured man was running on pure adrenaline and fear, body shaking, legs threatening to give out at any moment while the shard of glass lightly cut into his hand due to the force that he held it with.  His breathing came out as heavy and labored, the sound of his heartbeat now beating in his ears, while a thin film of sweat and blood coated his face.  When the two of them can close enough to touch, the figure struck fast and quick, aiming the gun and firing a silent round directly into the man's right knee cap.   

 

And like a house of cards, he collapsed again in a pathetic heap- clutching his now bleeding knee with an equally crimson hand as pain traveled up and down his leg and forced an agonizing scream from his throat. Yet he still clutched the shard of glass for all it’s worth. This didn't deter the figure in the slightest as they seemed to observed their prey with their head cocked off to the side, as though it were meant to be taken as a quizzical look. With his blood and adrenaline waning fast, the man turned his pained gaze away from his attacker to stare up at what he hoped was the night sky, only to be met with the wasp’s nest. From above him, the buzzing of the wasps grew angrier and angrier, like TV static played through a loud speaker; assaulting his ears until a full swarm of them came flying out of the hive buzzing around frantically. And in that moment, it all became clear to him. Why he hasn't died yet. Why the gun shot only served to disable him.  Because he was going to be made to suffer much worse than his current condition.  

 

Possibilities and methods as numerous as the wasps running through his mind, all of them ending in messy heaps of blood and prolonged screaming; both belonging to him. It was just a matter of how it all started and how it will all end.   But it was also clear to him that there was only one thing that would be better than torture and bondage. With this in mind, the man laid motionless on the ground for a while longer, letting more blood flow freely and stain the pavement beneath him. The attacker took this as a sign of surrender and came even closer. But before they could so much as lift a finger to touch their prey, the hand that still held the shard of glass quickly shot up an embedded itself in the man's jugular, tearing through the flesh and muscle of his neck.  

 

A brand new stream of blood shot out like a sprinkler and doused his clothes in the thick red substance. The remaining blood in his body filled up his lungs, making him gag and choke,  but never stopping him from cutting the glass deeper into his neck, carving a path from ear-to-ear.  All the while, the wasps continued their frantic buzzing until they settled on the dying man as their target, flying towards him in frantic uniform and embedding their sharp stingers in his bleeding flesh; covering every inch of his face and neck. This in turn caused an infinite number of hives and swelling to bubble up from his blood coated skin. Some of them even crawled their way into the open wound on his neck to continue their assault on his desecrated body.  With the massive blood loss and difficulty breathing brought on by the wasps, it didn't take very long for the man's body to slip into dark unconsciousness and finally give way to death.  

 

All the while, the figure stood motionless and silent, observing the scene with an unreadable expression. Surprisingly enough, the wasps paid him no mind, and kept their attention solely on the dead man's still bleeding corpse. A prolonged silence settled over the now crime scene until it was broken by a quick but audible clicking sound that turned out to be a body camera. One that was strapped to the figure's chest and practically invisible due to the all black ensemble that they wore. After adjusting the camera for a bit, they reached around them self to pull out a phone that was transmitting the events of what'd just occurred, double checking that the footage came out fine before placing it as an email attachment and typing out a quick message to be sent to indecipherable email address. **Mission Failed. Target took himself out. The debt is incomplete**.  

* * *

 

 

 **September, 3rd.  9:30 AM**.  

A rain storm had just rolled over the New York area, leaving in its wake a humid wind and a muggy atmosphere that left everything and anything completely damp. Not to mention lingering grey clouds that hung low in the sky despite the sun's attempts at peeking out from behind them. This especially goes for the towering apartment complexes in the city of Trost, where the tall buildings locked in the heat and distributed it to the tenants contained therein. But for one air-conditioned dwelling this wasn't the case. From her cream colored bedroom, Rosalyn Laake laid sound asleep, cocooned in her thick blanket and covers to keep out the cold air that whirled around her room.  The only indication that she was still breathing was the small rise and fall of the covers, in tune with her breathing and the occasional tosses and turns. This continued for 30 more minutes until the alarm on her phone sounded at 9:45, slowly jolting her from her sleep with its shrill and repetitive buzzing.  

 

One of her hands now reached out from the confines of the blankets and felt around for it until it was finally in her grasp and she set it to snooze. The comfortable silence lulled her back to sleep for another 10 minutes before she was again forced awake by her phone’s shrill alarm sounding off. Knowing that she’d run the risk of being late if she didn’t hurry, Rosalyn reluctantly and groggily silenced the alarm before unraveling the covers from her body and sitting up in bed. Her mind needed a bit more time to catch up with the rest of her body as she lazily looked out her window to see the gloomy morning that awaited her. ‘Out came the sun and dried up all the rain’. She thought to herself sarcastically as she climbed out of bed. Her warm but bare feet making immediate contact the cold hardwood floor beneath her and slightly jolting her awake.  A few feet away from her bed sat her desk which held a view miscellaneous books and objects, save for her laptop and her sketchbook; both of which Rosalyn made a short beeline for to put into her bag before she forgot them completely. With that taken care of, she made her way back to her bed to grab her phone and access her music playlist- something to give her a bit of Monday motivation for her first day of college. Once she settled on a song- something by Digital Daggers- and a decent volume, Rosalyn trudged out of her room and towards the bathroom for a quick shower, clothes, toiletries, and phone in hand.  Ten minutes passed by before she finally emerged from the bathroom wearing white, long sleeved v neck shirt, black skirt, and black opaque tights.  

 

Her shoulder length black hair was done up in a loose ponytail that made her hazel eyes and bronze complexion all the more noticeable. Aside from her mixed-race heritage and love of photography, there was nothing really outstanding or extraordinary about her.  The thought of being popular, athletic, or even nerdy never even crossed her mind. In a way, she was almost as ordinary as ordinary the word sounded.  As she walked back to her room Rosalyn notice that her mother, Amari’s bedroom door at the end of the hall had been closed. Meaning that she’d already left for work at the hospital and more than likely left her daughter money to buy food along with a note congratulating her on making it this far. Just as she’d done all the way through high school. But to the now 18-year-old Rosalyn, the notes didn’t mean much of anything at this point. Especially since she didn’t have a father around to cosign on them; or see her off for that matter.  It’d been like this for as long as she could remember. He had died when she was too small to even remember what he looked like- save for the pictures that Amari kept around the house.  

 

And whenever Rosalyn brought his name up in conversation, Amari either changed the subject entirely or gave a half-baked answer that she hoped would placate her daughter into not asking anymore questions.  She knew well enough that it was a sensitive topic for Amari to discuss; but even so being kept in the dark for this long was starting to get annoying, regardless if she had school focus on. Realistically speaking, the thought of going to college was never something that crossed her mind. All she really wanted to do was find a decent job to make an income from until she was able to support herself through her photography- even if she wouldn’t be the next Avedon. But seeing as how Amari didn’t want her daughter to just settle, she pushed for her Rosalyn to apply to whatever colleges were accepting applications. Ironic, considering how tight-lipped she was about her daughter’s father. So out of respect for her mother’s wishes, Rosalyn filled out applications to colleges that were not only made available to her, but would accept her average grades. Hence how she was accepted to Trost community college as a first year, fresh out of high school.  

 

Back in her bedroom, Rosalyn was quick to put on her black flat shoes and grab her bag and jacket before closing the door in behind her and making her way into the kitchen where the money and note sat on top of the microwave. A $20 bill and a short, but sweet note on how far she’d come as a young woman and well wishes for the future. And just like all the other notes, this one was stuffed into her bag to be retrieved later after school and stuffed into a shoebox with all the other ones. After checking the time on the microwave, Rosalyn slung her bag higher up her shoulder and made her way out the door. Since she lived on the 10th floor of an apartment building, she made straight for the elevator and climbed inside, pushing the button for the ground floor and paying no mind to the closing steel doors- except when a guy’s voice called out to her to hold them open.   

 

“Hey, hold on!”, it shouted.  Rosalyn acted quickly and held an arm out stop the doors before they could close shut. The guy on the other side followed suit and held out an arm of his own arm to try and pry one of the doors open. The doors did just this and the guy stepped inside, giving Rosalyn a smile that was almost as bright as his green eyes. Eren Yeager, another 18 year old college freshman who lived with his mother and adopted sister, Mikasa on the same floor but the other end of the hallway. Because of this, the three of them hung out as much as their schedules permitted; which wasn't very often but enough for Rosalyn to pick up on the fact that Eren had the hots for her, much to Mikasa’s chagrin.  Not that Rosalyn could blame him; after all it’s not like he had a lot of experience with girls outside of his sister. Since it looked like they were both going down, he used this as another chance to strike up a conversation for however long they had in the elevator.  

 

“Thanks, Rose. Good thing I caught you when I did. How’ve you been?” he asked. That was all he needed to say for her to slightly scrunch up her face, clearly annoyed by what he’d called her. While she knew that Rose was a common nickname with little to no other alternatives, Rosalyn refused to accept it, seeing the name as little more than a basterdized cop out that’s been done to death. So, at 16 she decided to take the name as her own and christen herself with the nickname Lynn. And made sure that everyone around her called her by it as well.   

 

“Eren, we’ve been over this: its' Lynn. Not Rose”. She corrected him. The green eyed boy scratched the back of his head nervously before momentarily breaking his gaze away from hers. For all of his hot headed tendencies and overall stubbornness, he had a sweet, boyish personality that made him a catch for any girl that wanted him. Any girl but her, that is. Seeing that they were two floors away from their stop, Eren cleared his throat and redoubled his efforts at small talk.  

 

“Uh- yeah sorry. Just that it’s been a while since we last spoke and uh...I was starting to think I wouldn't see you again. I know that sounds kind of stupid, since we live in the same building but you know how my mom is-heh heh”. He said, chuckling.  Rosalyn chuckled along with him and flipped her hair over her shoulder, seeing that they were finally on the ground floor.  Without a moment’s hesitation, she and Eren and stepped out of the elevator, bypassed the small lobby, and made their way out into the gloomy streets.  Even with the clouds hanging in the sky and the tall buildings that toward over them, a decent amount of sunlight brightened up the scenery around them. Which consisted mostly of rushed men and women in business suits, clutching their coffees in one hand and checking the time on their wrists with the other. College aged kids who had their headphones in their ears and their eyes glued to their phone screens. Early morning joggers and exercisers getting in their morning runs and workouts, phones strapped to their biceps for easy access. Rosalyn now opened up her phone and began to track her commute to the train that she’d have to take to get to the college, oddly glancing at Eren out of her peripheral vision.  

 

“Are we going to the same place or...?” she asked, leaving the question hanging in the air.  

 

“Oh, my bad um- I'm going to Maria Community College so I gotta get on the train too. Same station, just a different line is all”. He replied, shrugging his shoulders. Rosalyn nods in response and turns her attention back to her phone, deciding to keep the conversation going for the sake of being polite.   

 

“What about Mikasa? Isn't she normally two steps behind you? I thought the two of you’d be going to the same school together?”  

 

“Nah, not her. She’s enrolled in another college on a full ride scholarship so she’s staying in the dorms. Same with Armin”. He explained, kicking a few rocks on the sidewalk. Rosalyn gave a short nod, not really surprised by this. In the few times that the two of them had met, Mikasa was always the golden child between her and Eren. Even if her personality was slightly standoffish, her wide skill set and looks more than made up for it; not that Rosalyn had a reason to be jealous. She didn’t care for any sort of competition. With her guiding the two of them via her phone, it didn’t take long for her and Eren to reach the train station, making their way down the damp steps and preparing to go their separate ways; with Rosalyn flashing him a small smile and adjusting her bag on her shoulder and Eren scratching the back of his head and giving nervous smile of his own, clearly not ready to leave just yet. Thankfully, she broke the awkward silence first.   

 

“Well, goodbye for now. I guess I’ll text you or something”. She said.  

“Definitely. See you around Ros- uh... I mean, Lynn” he quickly corrected himself. Seeing how he was able to catch and correct himself, Rosalyn let it go and left him with a friendly pat on his shoulder. After paying for her train ticket and finding the right line, she only waited a few brief minutes before climbing into the oncoming train car once it came to a complete stop. The inside of the train car was mostly empty save for a group of 2 uniformed high school girls sitting opposite to an older guy with a scraggly appearance and a long grey beard. Feeling the train jolt forward, Rosalyn moved to sit in the first seat that she could, which was further down from the guy. A comfortable silence quickly settled in with the exception of the train’s raucous movements and the not so quite conversation; something about a bunch of disappearances that were going on pertaining to something called the deep web, or the dark net. 

 

“Seriously?  No way, it sounds like some shitty Facebook group for a bunch of 12-year olds said one girl. 

 

“No, I heard the same thing. Apparently one of the junior, Ilse Lagnar  tried it out and went missing for the rest of the year. The Military Police were all over the school asking questions”.  

 

“Was that chick Hitch Dreyse there too?”  

“Why? You trying to get with her since your little fling with Hannah didn’t work out?” 

“Shut up!”  

Figuring that this was nothing more than typical high school drabble, Rosalyn tuned out their conversation in favor of scrolling through her phone for whatever was vaguely interesting to look at.  From her music playlist to her email, and even inconsistent weather updates.  Because it was an hour long train ride, she’d need some kind of distraction until her stop arrived. 20 minutes into playing on her phone, Rosalyn let out a short yawn and briefly glanced at the man out of her peripheral vision. But what she saw him doing was more than enough to set her on edge.   While the man had his phone out to appear as though he were texting or watching a video, from where she sat Rosalyn could cleat see that what he was watching was a real time recording of the girls who sat across from him; with the camera angle centered on their faces before drifting downward to their skirts and blouses. Her heart immediately sank into her stomach and she quickly turned her head away, unable to stomach, or even fathom whatever he planned to use that footage for. Poisonous and unwanted ideas enter her mind like a mist of toxic gas and prompted her to turn up the music in her head phones to drown them out.  

 

The rest of the hour passes by in what feels like an eternity, and once her stop comes up Rosalyn jumps up from her seat, leaving the train car, running up the stairs, and breathing heavily, still slightly shaken up by what she’d witnessed.  While it was none of her business and while she wasn’t exactly as pure as the driven snow, it still sickened her that ordinary looking people were capable of such perversion; not to mention how oblivious the girls were to the man’s actions. But then, again that was the price to be paid for such advanced technology. Trading in social skills and physical interactions for glass screens and colorful inbox messages- looking for validation that they don’t get in their real lives.  

 

While Rosalyn was big enough to admit that she had her fair share of problems, she didn’t see the need to hide behind an online account and get high off of this false sense of validation from complete strangers.  For her photography was the only real validation that she needed. Something about the authenticity and nostalgia of capturing a moment in time that isn't saturated with filters and enhancements on a social media website. The nostalgia of looking through a phot album instead of scrolling through pictures on a phone that’ll break down and need an update after a few months.  Everything from nature shots and occasional live events to close ups of homeless people- particularly in shades of black and white.  Once she was finally above ground, she took deep breath and started her walk towards Trost Community College.  The sky was still grey with overcast as Rosalyn made her way inside the building and down the academic hallway after flashing her ID to the security guard. Because of the tour that she’d taken with Amari, she already had a passing familiarity with where everything was. So, finding her first period biology class was no problem. When she entered the room, she immediately took notice of the human display that sat in the corner of the room with its muscles completely exposed.   

 

As she got closer, she couldn’t help but notice how tightly the red muscle was stretched over the skeleton as thought blood still flowed in its veins. Even the teeth seemed to glisten with what may, or not have been left over saliva. With how entranced she was by the figure, Rosalyn didn’t register the someone else in the room until a hand was clasped on her shoulder. She quickly turned around with a startled gasp to see a woman with glasses and long brown hair done up in a high pony tail.  The smile that she wore was almost as bright as the light that refracted off the frames of her glasses as she patted Rosalyn’s shoulder in a friendly gesture with one hand while the other one held a laptop.  

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie I didn’t think anyone would be here this early”. She said. Once the momentary shock wore off, Rosalyn let out a short sigh and slung her bag higher on her shoulder.  

 

“No, no, it's fine. I just wanted to make sure I had the right room.  You’re Professor Zoe Hanji, right?” she asked. The woman pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose and took her hand off Rosalyn’s shoulder to put it her laptop down and turn back to her again.   

 

“Just call me Hanji.  Life’s too short to put labels on every little thing”. She said, just in time for the door came open again to reveal a guy with light brown hair who came over to Hanji almost bypassing Rosalyn entirely.   

 

“There you are. Classes will be starting soon- you need to start setting up your power points now”. He lightly chastised her. Eventually, he turned to Rosalyn and nodded his head in greeting.   

 

“How do you do? I’m Moblit Berner. I’m a senior and TA for this class”.  Rosalyn returned his nod with one of her own before introducing herself. To which Hanji looped her arms around Moblit and brought him closer to her in a tight hug; as thought they were longtime friends.  

 

“Ah, Moblit I can’t believe you. All the good times we had together, and now you’re just gonna up and leave me behind?  It’s Sonny and Bean all over again”.  She said in mock disappointment. But Moblit just rolled his eye and removed himself from her grip, walking over to her laptop and hooking it up to the projector. Rosalyn raised a quizzical eyebrow at the names that Hanji caught and elaborated on.  

 

“Sonny and Bean were these two puppies I rescued. I found them on the side of the road, eating a pile of trash in the pouring rain, took them in, and raised them-” 

 

“After you treated them for worms”. Moblit cut in.  But Hanji rolled her eyes and chuckled at his words before turning back to the girl in front of her.  

 

“Needless to say, we parted ways after they were stolen right out from under me and no one responded to my missing posters and Facebook posts. Take it from me, Rosy, animals can keep a promise that humans can’t. Their loyalty can’t be bought or incentivized by anything”. She said. Rosalyn had hung on to Hanji’s words until she’d used that nickname that Rosalyn hated so much and used this as a Segway to nip that mistake in the bud.  

 

“Yeah um...just really quick, I prefer to go by Lynn. Not Rosy”. She said firmly. Hanji’s eyes widened in surprise before she fell into a slight laughing fit just in time for a few more students to enter the room. By now, Moblit had gotten the power point set up on the screen, and turned to Hanji again.  

 

“Hey, class just started and we’re waiting on you.” he said, impatiently. Eventually Hanji calmed down long enough to take off her glasses and wipe the tears from her eyes and looked back up at Rosalyn with an almost wild excitement.   

 

“Of all the nicknames I’ve heard, that has got to be the most original yet. Hold onto that originality, it’ll take you far in life”.  She said before waving Rosalyn over to a seat.  The rest of class continued without incident with the typical introductory lessons and expectations for the rest of the semester. By 1:30, Rosalyn made her way to the cafeteria to survey the food but was disappointed by what she saw and started to comb the streets, occasionally stepping over a few ant hills, looking for a place to eat. Eventually, she settled on a place called Liberte’ whose interior resembled that of a smoky French café with its intimate outdoor seating, ivory colored walls and gaslights that hung from the ceilings frim what she could see through the display window. Not seeing any other options, she crossed the street and entered the café, taking in the quiet chatter of the people and aroma of tea and coffee that wafted through the air before surveying any empty seats.  Before she could scan the room again, a familiar voice called out to him.  

 

“Lynn, how are you?” Hanji said, coming up to her with her usual bright smile on her face. The girl in question gave her a small smile of her own before giving a brief shrug of her shoulders.   

 

“Pretty good, can’t complain.  I mean, not much of anything’s happened between this morning and now”. She replied, nonchalantly. Hanji gave a helpless shrug of her shoulders before motioning for Rosalyn to join her at a table occupied by a Moblit. She took the seat to his right while Hanji sat to his left. With the menus already laid out on the table, she read over the options and made a bit of small talk with Hanji and Moblit until their orders were taken by their redheaded waitress whose name tag simply read Petra. Once all of menus were taken, Hanji called out to her before she could walk away.  

 

“Oh, and Petra, can you tell Levi I’ll take care of my tab the day after tomorrow?” She asked, with a tone of familiarity.    

 

“Or you could tell him yourself. He’s in the back brewing some tea leaves if you want to see him”.  Hanji’s eyes now widened behind her glasses, making them seen infinitely bigger while her voice came out in a pitch higher than it really was.  

 

“No thanks- tomorrow's another day”. Despite trying to appear disinterested, Rosalyn watched their encounter with a curious gaze that Hanji noticed and clarified for her new student.   

 

“Just a good friend of mine and the owner of this fine establishment”. She said, gesturing to the space around them. Rosalyn nodded her head in understanding and said nothing else. The rest of the day passed by in haze that blindsided the 18 year old until her day finally ended at 5:45 and she was back on the train that would take her home- no cell phone wielding pervert to ruin her commute. Unbeknownst to her, a pair of bespectacled, brown eyes watched her from across the street alongside another pair of eyes that looked on with an underlying darkness and hunger that she would soon come to recognize sooner than she would expect.  

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having dug too deep in the underbelly of the dark web, Rosalyn Laake finds herself under a blood colored spotlight when a powerful Red Room admin sets his sights set on her. But as she soon comes to find out, the sick world above ground is no different than the one below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again this Is my first time taking a stab at a head canon like this so please be patient with me if something doesn't make sense. I also want to say another thank you to Black_Dog (Xilianr) for helping me make this story a bit more coherent, and announce that I have a Tumblr account for anyone who wants to RP with me. Just hit me up at theladyshinigami, or reach me on my Instagram BriyahnaYanique. One more disclaimer: this chapter does contain graphic depictions of blood, torture, and violence. If that's not your cup of tea, make for the back key option on your computer. Otherwise, enjoy.

**Friday, September 7th**  

The first week of school passed by with little to no incident, a few nature shots, and a few homework assignments; all of which Rosalyn took in casual stride while she quickly adapted to her classes and commute. And the end of this day no different. The train ride back home was mostly quiet and completely uneventful until Rosalyn received a text from Eren asking her if she wanted to hang out at his place for a bit since he had it to himself for a few hours.  A small smile spread over her lips while she typed out a quick “yes” and sent a text to her mother, asking her permission. Amari responded within two minutes and said that it was okay as long her daughter didn’t come home too late. By the time Rosalyn made it out of the train station, the sun was nearly gone and getting ready to make way for the night. And by the time she made it up to her apartment, it was pitch black outside with only a few street and car lights to guide her way. She went straight to Eren’s door and after two knocks, came face to face with the boy in question sporting a serious case of bed head while his vibrant green eyes were hazy with fatigue; a sight that made Rosalyn chuckle.   

 

“I’m sorry, did I disturb your beauty sleep? Not that you need it”. She teased.  Eren laughed along with her until it was stifled by a yawn and he stepped aside to let her in.  

 

“Nah, you’re good. I was just dozing off when you showed up. Saved by the knock, I guess”. He replied, scratched his head while he closed the door and trudged into the small kitchen.  Rosalyn made herself comfortable on the couch and pulled her laptop out of her bag, booting it up as Eren came and sat next to her, carrying two sodas and holding one out to her.  She took it with a small smile as a thanks and booted up her laptop. Eren took the seat opposite to her and looked back and forth between her and her laptop, a short silence falling over the two of them until he broke it with a bit of small talk.  

 

“So how was your Friday?” he asked, taking a tentative sip from his soda. Rosalyn shrugged her shoulders in response and tapped her keyboard for a bit before speaking, eyes looking at Eren out of her peripherals.  She could've told him about the pervert she’d caught in the act on her commute, but knowing him, he’d skip school and start combing the streets for the guy; ever the hothead.  

 

“Pretty uneventful, to be honest. Nothing but the usual first week introductory bullshit and first assignments. The surrounding area has some great places to take pictures thought. What about you?” She added as an afterthought. Eren scratched the back of his head before rolling his eyes and taking another short sip of his soda.   

 

“Kind of boring, except for this horse faced asshole who cut in front of me in the lunch line so I had to knock his head off. Security was called on us and everything”.  he said with disdain in his voice. Of course, Eren’s day wouldn't be complete until he got into a fight with at least one person; something that made Rosalyn stifle a laugh as she took a long drink of her soda and put it down with satisfied sigh, typing away on her keyboard. For all of her indifference and disinterest, Eren always managed to put a smile on her face.  

 

“Classic Eren; it only took a few days for you to end up on someone’s shit list- way to go”. She said with a short laugh. He was all too quick to scratch the back of his head to hide how red his ears had become; a telltale sign that he was lying.   

 

“Well, he started it. Anyway, once the day was over, I skyped Armin for a bit and he started going on about something called the deep web. Apparently, his professor brought it up in his mass media and Internet class, or something”. Eren explained.  Thinking back to what those girls on the train had mentioned, Rosalyn eyes almost lit up as he said this and she paused in the middle of opening up YouTube to look at him.  

 

“The deep web? What’s that? Some website for gore and crush videos?” she asked. But Eren just shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

“Nah, apparently it’s the part of the internet that can’t be found on sites like Google, or Bing”. he replied.   

“According to Armin, it’s kind of like a market place for conspiracy theories, government documents, and some online currency called Bitcoin. There’s even some crazy shit, like kills for hire, drug and weapons trafficking; I think Armin even mentioned something about child pornography and cannibalism”. He explained, shuddering as he did so. Rosalyn did the same thing, thinking back to the guy in the train and whatever sick plans he had for the footage he took.   

 

“Ugh- gross”. She said, turning back to her laptop while Eren finished off his soda before speaking again.  

 

“Yeah, no kidding. But apparently, there’s people who’ve found a way to turn this Bitcoin currency into real money and make it big- even becoming billionaires”. He said, a slight tone of wonder and awe n his voice.  But Rosalyn refused to be taken in by the thought of easy money and just shook her head at his words, turning back to her laptop.  

 

“No way, if something like Bitcoin was that widely used, wouldn’t someone have gotten caught by now?” she asked, skeptically. But Eren just brushed her words off and got up from the couch to go and get his own laptop.  When he came back, he booted it up, opened up his Skype history and pulled up Armin’s name along the conversation that they’d had. She quietly watched him for a few minutes while he skimmed the conversation and read to himself.   

 

“What are you doing?” she asked him. Her question went un answered for another few minutes until Eren finally found what he needed and pointed it out to her. Rosalyn put her laptop back in h her bag and scooted closer to him to read what he was showing her. It was the Skype conversation between him and Armin regarding the deep web.  

 

**Armin: To** **make it simple, you go** **down** **the rabbit** **hole** **in the Deep Web and get your hands dirty in the Dark Net.**  

 

**Eren:** **So,** **it's** **not just one big,** **collective** **marketplace** **for bad shit?**  

 

**Armin: No,** **there’s levels to it. A** **s far as a marketplace is concerned, you can buy pretty much whatever you want with Bitcoin if used wisely. But that doesn’t mean you should go poking around down there. The world as we know it is a sick place above ground. And if you think people are sick on the surface, wait until you see what’s underneath.**  

 

The rest of the conversation goes into Armin explaining the Tor browser, the exchange rate of Bitcoin, even a story about a guy who became a billionaire selling narcotics on the dark net; converting the Bitcoin into real currency that he used to buy three houses and four cars before he was caught and committed suicide in prison. Mostly as a cautionary tale to Eren. Once she was halfway done, Rosalyn started to catch onto what he was wanting to do. Now all she needed was a verbal confirmation.  

 

“Where are you going with this?” she asked, her tone of voice slightly confused and worried.   

 

“Let’s get on the deep web. Tonight”. Eren replied, taking his laptop back and started google searching about the Tor Browser based on Armin’s words. Rosalyn now sat up on the couch and shook her head in a no gesture, holding her arms out in front of her in almost defensive position.  

 

“What? No way, it's too risky. You read what Armin said, didn’t you? What if we get caught?” she replied. But Eren just continued typing away on his laptop only slowing down to respond.   

 

“We're not going to do anything sketchy, just look into a few conspiracy theories and whatnot. Besides, it's not like we’re going to make Bitcoin overnight”. He replied, downplaying the situation. Rosalyn’s eyes widened slightly when he said this; dumbfounded by his lack of understanding despite Armin’s warnings.  Even if the deep web was just conspiracy theories and government secrets, there was nothing stopping them from stumbling across something bad- or something stumbling across them. Yet before she could actually vocalize this, a new box popped up on Eren’s laptop that said his download was ready to be opened.  She narrowed her eyes to see it better until she could make out the word Tor Browser followed by a series of brackets and parenthesis. She looked back at him, completely flabbergasted compared to the excitement and interest that he showed as he clicked open the download and took care of a few legalities until the browser was finally up and running. Realizing that there was no stopping him now, Rosalyn let out a sigh of indignation, finished off the rest of her soda and got closer to Eren and his laptop as he pulled up the Tor Browser. It was nothing really sinister looking or disturbing. 

 

 If anything, it was as normal as normal the word sounded; displaying a plain white background page with a series of links and titles to accompany them. Varying from mundane titles like Academia and Surveillance to Finances and Conspiracies. Between the two of them, Eren eventually clicked on the one called Academia and was sent to another page with more links to pages called US History, 9/11, JFK, and the like.  

 

Eren just clicked on the one that said JFK and together, the two of them read a lengthy article on how the Kennedy Assassination was an inside job within the president’s own cabinet before going over to articles about 9/11, The Vietnam War, and even something about Watergate that never made the media. Well pretty much everything they’re read thus far never made the media. An hour passed by with Eren and Rosalyn still on the couch, reading conspiracy theories, plans for weapons trafficking, bomb making, and articles about governments from other countries, only getting up to use the bathroom and grab a few more snacks. Eventually, they navigated a new wiki page and trudged through the territory of the dark net, being careful to avoid anything that covered suicide enthusiasts, fetishes and prostitution, cult and terrorist recruitment sites, or cannibal cafes.  

 

But as a joke, Eren scoped out a few silk roads and kill for hire websites, just to read about; despite Rosalyn’s reluctance. The site names made it a bit easier to navigate which ones were okay, but all in all, the whole ordeal felt like shots in the dark being taken over and over again until something truly unsavory or unexpected came to light. It looked like Armin was right; people are better off keeping up facades if what lies behind them are this disturbing. And she and Eren had no business trying to see behind those facades in a place like this. Strangers in a strange land; that’s all they really were. Before long, a new link popped up that wasn't there before that had Rosalyn raising a quizzical eyebrow and pointing it out to Eren. The link was at the bottom right hand corner and was just a long stream of numbers, commas, and brackets. Nothing like the ones that came before it.  

 

“Hey, what about that one?” she said, pointing it out. Eren paused in the middle of chewing a potato chip to hover over the link before clicking it and opening up a new web browser. The screen was now completely black, save for the image of blue and white wings covered in few blood splatters while a low, baritone voice sang in what sounded like German, followed by a brief description underneath of something called The Survey Corpses. A former kill for hire site now turned red room dedicated to all forms of torture and murder- most of which are decided through a voting platform. There were a few formalities about the sign in page and fees for VIP content, but beyond, that the viewing was completely free. Both Eren and Rosalyn’s eyes widened at this while Eren hovered the mouse around the image for a bit before he finally clicked on it; even before Rosalyn could stop him.  

 

“Wait, don’t". She started. But the page had already been clicked on and the blackened screen showed a video that looked as though it was being shot and streamed from the inside of a dimly lit prison cell.  In the center sat a man strapped to a chair with a burlap sack over his head. His shirt was gone leaving chest was completely bare but showing an assortment of blue and black bruises around his stomach. Accompanying this was another smaller box that appeared in the upper, right hand corner. A sight that made both Eren and Rosalyn’s faces pale before they turned to look at each other; sitting completely still and unsure of what to do at this point. From the box now came a sudden volley of comments from people waiting for the livestream to begin. At the very top was a pinned comment from someone called the admin stating that today’s show goes out to a vote from someone named Floch of the Concords. The comments that followed underneath it were nothing short of depraved. Most stated how excited they were for the live stream to start, and others asking if someone named “the corporal” was going to be doing “his usual”. This broke Eren out of his stupor and he muttered the first word that came to mind at the sight of all this; his eyes now slightly wide with worry and dark with a twinge of fear.  

 

“What the hell are they talking about?” Rosalyn heard his words, and was in pretty much the same state as she shook her head and tripped over her words a bit.  

   
   
“...I- I don’t know. How the hell did we even get here?” She asked worriedly, “Can’t you get out of this?”  That was all Eren needed to hear to start clicking every button on his keyboard to try and close the page, but nothing was effective; not even the tricks that Armin taught him. His eyebrows now furrowed in confusion while he mashed the buttons with a bit more urgency; just in time for a darkly dressed figure wearing a hood to move towards the bound man, pushing a cart and placing it near him. He briefly turned to look at the camera before he slipped on a pair of rubber gloves and an apron. 

 

 After cracking his gloved knuckles, turning back to the bound man, and removing the sack, in the blink of an eye, he struck him hard across the face. The man sputtered and shouted in pain, breathing heavily while blood trickled from his nose. The next barrage of punches came in rapid succession with little to no breaks in between, until the face was a swollen and bloody mess with two black eyes, missing front teeth, and busted lips. Between all of this, and the volley of comments that applauded the assault, Rosalyn couldn't decide which was harder to watch; let alone tear her eyes away from the screen. Soon enough, the hooded figure picked something up from the cart that turned out to be a pliers that he showed to the camera before turning back to his victim. As the camera zoomed in on his bound hands, black gloves grabbed one of them roughly and ripped away the fingernails just in time for the man to let out a long string of strangled screams.  

 

That was all it took for Rosalyn to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from vomiting, her heart beat now hammering in her ears, and eyes now teary with the sight and sound of the screams while Eren sat wide eyed and equally terrified, continuing his frantic button mashing to no avail. Not even holding down the power button did anything. With each nail that was plucked off, the screams seemed to grow louder until the man’s voice started to go hoarse in the mist of his crying and sputtering until all 10 of them were gone. At this point, the hooded figure moved back to the cart and surveyed his instruments for a moment until they settled on a hammer that he aimed at the man’s kneecap. 

 

 After a few experimental air hits, they bashed it against the bone with a sickening crack and popping sound that mingled with more strangled screams and wails. A symphony of screams, cracks, pops, and squelching flesh filled the room until the hammer was painted a vibrant red with blood and what used to be the man’s knee caps were now fleshy, broken down masses of running blood, exposed flesh, torn apart muscles, and bones grinded into dust.  

 

 While they had the freedom to move, to get up, to throw the laptop to the ground and run to the bathroom to vomit at what they’d seen, both Eren and Rosalyn sat trapped and rooted in place. By now, Eren was too frozen by fear to try and shut off the computer and just watched the torture with pained eyes, labored breathing, and a brain that was on the verge of short-circuiting. Rosalyn was in a similar state only her eyes had tears welling up and sliding down her cheeks without her even blinking, while waves of intense nausea swept over her. In the back of her mind, she’d hoped that her blurred vision would obscure what she was watching, but to no avail.  

 

She could even make out the comments that applauded the torture, demanded more, and even offered up large sums of money for pieces of the man’s broken body. While the aforementioned body was taken away, the livestream still played and the comments still poured in. Eren and Rosalyn now sat paralyzed and unmoving, still reeling from everything they’d seen while it was still fresh in their minds. All around them, time slowed to a crawl while not a sound could be heard coming either them or the outside world. The tension in the air was now thick enough to cut with a knife as both of them sat numb and unmoving. At least until Eren finally let out a strangled, unamused chuckle of his own before speaking.  

 

“Talk about realistic, am I right?” he said, in a morbid attempt to defuse the situation. But this only set Rosalyn off before either of them could see it coming.  

 

“What the hell are you talking about!? That shit was real! Why didn’t you close out of it?!” she shouted at him. Realizing that his attempt to diffuse the situation wasn’t working in the slightest, he was all too quick to shout back.  

 

“How the fuck could I?! None of these keys worked! Not even the shit that Armin told me about protecting against viruses and whatnot”. But Rosalyn just scoffed at his words and frantically looked back and for the between him and the still running laptop; images from the livestream still burned in the back of her mind and preventing her from thinking straight. But her words were nothing short of scared.  

 

“What fucking virus would bring up something like this?!  This is sick! A guy just got his fucking fingers plucked off! Get us out of here, Eren! I don’t care how, just get us out!” she pleaded practically yelling. He now redoubled his efforts and restarted his button mashing while Rosalyn turned away from the computer, unable to look at it any longer and just looked down at the carpeted ground, more tears blurring her vision while she tried not to reimagine what she’d just seen with only the sound of Eren’s fingers flying across the keyboard to distract her. But after a while, it came to an abrupt stop.   

 

When Rosalyn turned to look at Eren, the first thing that threw her off was how wide and fearful his eyes had become while he started to shiver in his seat. She glanced at his computer only to see a new box that showed his face as though as his webcam had been activated. She wiped her tears and came closer to make sure she was seeing this properly until her face popped up next to his in the webcam; eyes red and fearful while strands of her hair fell over her face. What’s even worse, the livestream was still on going with one box showing their faces and another one displaying Eren’s information including his full name, phone number and home address with the apartment number. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of this while Eren went off in a full on screaming fit.  

 

“Oh, joke all you want, assholes, you’re not gonna do shit!” he screamed preparing to throw the laptop until a new text popped up on screen. This time with Rosalyn’s info and a message underneath it.  

**Be** **seeing you, Rosy.**  

* * *

 

From inside of that dimly lit prison cell, the hooded figure took off his cloak to reveal a raven-haired man who stood at 5’3 with a thin, but muscular build, steel blue eyes that caught the light in the best way imaginable and seemed to compliment his pale skin. His hair was styled in an undercut with bangs that hung in the front of his face.  Despite his handsome features, the scowl that he wore was enough to make Hell freeze over as he observed the mess that Sannes made as he bled to death; specifically, the piss smelling, shit stained one in his pants.  He scoffed in annoyance before looking off to the side, glancing at the open laptop before signaling to Moblit to clean up the mess as Sannes body was taken away.  

 

In the midst of taking off his bloodied gloves, he thought back to the laptop that was hardwired to notify him of any new people or I.P addressees who weren’t subscribed to the site, but still managed to get on it.  He was only half surprised that it was found by a bunch of kids, but he savored every minute of their terror. Those stupid, “this can’t be happening to me” looks on their faces. More so, the girl Rosalyn than they Yeager boy.  Unbeknownst to her, she would soon find herself as the main priority on his radar.  First thing first, was to isolate her until her back was against a wall ready to come down on her head. The though alone made him smile. On his way to a nearby sink to wash his hands, the raven haired man turned to his 6’3, blonde haired friend who stood off to the side, monitoring the laptop.   

 

“Mike, see if you can get ahold of that Yeager kid and pay him a visit. We can deal with the girl later”, he said. The man sniffed in reply before making his way out of the room. The shorter man now dried his hands off his hands and glanced at Rosalyn's picture, name, and address one more time just as a microscopic, but cruel smile formed on his face.  

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having dug too deep in the underbelly of the dark web, Rosalyn Laake finds herself under a blood colored spotlight when a powerful Red Room admin sets his sights set on her. But as she soon comes to find out, the sick world above ground is no different than the one below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be a pretty short one, but will include mentions of nondescript abuse and sexual assault. Reader Discretion and caution is advised. Also want to give another massive thank you to Black_Dog (Xilianr) for helping me make this story a tad more coherent behind the scenes. Plus, my RP tumblr is theladyshinigami and my Instagram is BriyahnaYanique if anyone wants to hit me up on either one.

 

**Sunday, September 9t** **h**  

It’d been a little less than two days since Eren had logged onto his computer or spoken to Rosalyn and he was starting to get worried. Even after she’d screamed at him for marking them and putting their lives in danger before storming out of his place in a panic, he still cared about her. But figured that he’d give her a bit of time to cool down before texting her, or even knocking on her door.  In the meantime, he’d need to figure out a way to convince his mom to get him a new laptop so that he wouldn't have to use his current one and run the risk of pulling up that site, or anything on the deep web for that matter.  While he’d never admit it, Armin was right- they had no business poking around down there. Hell, porn would’ve been easier to take in; and now all the naked women in the world wouldn't be able to scrub those fucked up images, or screams from his mind. But for the sake of everyone around him, Eren swallowed his fear and carried on as normally as he could, which included watching his back and every aspect of his surroundings. He would've done that anyway, but this time it was serious. He even convinced his mom to let him spend the weekend at Armin’s house, God forbid someone did show up at his place and he was there.  

 

At the moment, he was coming back home from spending the weekend at Armin’s place, walking back to his apartment in the early evening. Now a block away from his building and texting Mikasa, Eren didn’t even notice the unmarked black car that was closely trailing behind him and eventually came to a stop. He barely even registered the sound of the car door being opened and shut, figuring that it someone coming or going nor the faint footsteps that trailed close behind him. Just as Eren crossed over onto his street, he felt a gloved hand cover his mouth and another one injects something into the side of his neck. In the split second that he had to react, Eren could only drop his phone and try to rip the hand away from his mouth and pry himself out of the offender’s grip, to no avail.  The drug worked fast, spreading through his system, and in a matter of minutes Eren’s eyelids grew heavy, his body felt weak and he almost collapsed onto the pavement had the figure not scooped him up. Unfazed by his futile attempts to fight back, the figure crushed the phone under his heel, tossed the limp body over his shoulder, and made for the car, putting the unconscious boy in the backseat, propping him up to make it look as though he were just asleep after a long day.  

 

* * *

 

When he finally came to, Eren’s vision was completely blurred and disorienting and his hearing made everything sound like he was underwater. Meanwhile, his body felt as though he was weighted down by something. Which he confirmed when he tried to raise his arms to alleviate the headache that was forming on the left side of his temple. When Eren tried to move his legs, the most that he could accomplish was a mere fidget from where he sat in the hard, wooden chair. His already heavy breathing became shallow at this revelation as he now struggled and pulled against his restraints with what little strength he could muster, only taking in his surroundings as the familiar dimly lit prison cell with the only light source being the one that was shined on him; the same prison cell from that fucked up live stream that he and Rosalyn had seen. Wait, Rosalyn. Shit! She was probably somewhere here with him if she wasn’t already dead, God forbid. He had to find her, he had to-  

Before he could finish that frantic though, the sound of a rusted door opening and closing alerted his ears from somewhere in the thick darkness in front of him. Immediately following it was the sound of slow, even footsteps that moved to the right before moving behind Eren and then shifting to the right, as though circling Eren like a deep-sea diver dangled in front of a hungry shark. The even footsteps continued their circular path around Eren’s bound form for another five agonizing minutes before he shouted out his fear and anger into thick darkness.  

“Who are you?! Who the fuck are you?!” That was all it took for the steps to come to an almost abrupt stop right in front of Eren and before he could think to process this, he was met with the sight of a man that could easily be mistake for some kind of super model with black hair, steel blue eyes, and a body that would make any who looked for even a fraction of a second weak in their knees. He emerged from the darkness as though he were born and raised in it while Eren was nothing but a visitor.  The stunned look on the boy’s face made a small smile spread across the raven-haired man’s before he came closer and simply gazed down at Eren with his arms crossed over his chest and his weight shifted onto one leg. When he spoke, his voice carried a smooth baritone quality that made Eren choke on the saliva he was going to swallow. Something that only happened when he was momentarily star struck.  

“So, how did you enjoy the show?” He knew full well that this kid and his female friend were anything but impressed by what they’d stumbled across on his site, but that didn’t mean he couldn't have some fun with him.  And the look on the kid’s face was nothing short of comical. Green eyes so wide they looked like they’d pop pout of his sockets and mouth slightly agape but wide enough for a fly to come in and nest. But as quickly as it came, the look was replaced with narrowed eyes and a snarl that was almost impressive to the raven-haired man. In his line of work, he’d seen better.  

“Go to hell”, was Eren’s harsh response. Even in his captive state, he still found it within himself to be a hot-tempered, big mouthed fool.  He refused to give this guy the satisfaction of seeing cry and beg for his life. But rather than be upset or even offended, the raven-haired man just scoffed and rolled his eyes before speaking again, tone of voice flippant, if not a bit displeased.  

“Why am I not surprised? Brats like you were never taught to respect their elders”. His next words were accompanied by a small ,but cruel smile that should've been illegal.  

“Maybe Rosalyn will be a bit more cooperative”. This sparked a reaction in Eren that made his eyed grow wide again as he snarled like some deranged animal, pulling ang tugging against the chains that help him. Not even thinking to play dumb and pretend he didn’t know who this guy was talking about, but rather feeding  himself enough rope to let himself hang. 

“Keep her name out of your fucking mouth! She’s got nothing to do with this! You already have me here. Isn't that enough!?” The raven haired man didn’t even flinch at this outburst, but in one swift movement, back handed Eren across the face to where the boy saw stars behind his vision and even felt a trickle of blood pool from his bottom lip.   

“To hell with a good talking to. Clearly, what you need is to be taught a lesson. And it’s a good thing you’re in a perfect position for me to do so”, he said sternly. Still reeling from the powerful back hand, Eren just looked at the man from out of his peripheral vision, pain still shined behind his eyes while another smaller trickle of blood fell onto his pants. A sight that sparked a momentary gleam of sadistic amusement.  

“And for your information, kid, she has more to do with this than either of you can begin to fucking comprehend. And you’re going to help shed light on that”, he replied before ushering to something in the darkness that Eren couldn’t make out. Not until he became aware of a new pair of footsteps that came towards him as the light illuminated a new man with sandy blonde hair, a broad muscular build, facial hair, and eyes that were as disinterested as the ravens.  He came towards Eren and undid the binding that held his hands only to place them in a set of handcuffs and pull him out of the chair and drag him towards the main door. He used his impeccable strength to practically carry away the now kicking and screaming boy in his grasp.  

“Leave her alone, you sick fuck! Leave her alone!” Eren screamed, his voice traveling down the expansive hallway. But Levi ignored it in favor of pulling out his phone and typing out a text to be sent to another one of his trusted colleagues in this operation.  

**We have Yeager with us. Keep an eye on the girl and start moving into phase two.**   

 

* * *

 

**Monday, September 17** **th**  

From in her bed and under the thick covers, Rosalyn laid curled up on her side. Her body laid motionless but her mind was still racing from what’d happened less than two weeks ago. Two weeks since she’d last left her apartment and gone to school, too afraid to be out in the open. While being in her home was more of a detriment to her, she’d rather be home where she was somewhat safe, as opposed to outside where the odds of being kidnapped were much higher. She wouldn’t know where it’d come from, when it ‘d happen, and who was in on it.  The same could be said for Eren, assuming he was still around.  As much as she wanted to text him, she was still too angry to talk to him after being so stupid as pull up that site and not get out fast enough. While she knew even less about the deep web than he did, common sense should’ve forced him to close out the sight the second that guy got his fingers torn off. But this wasn’t the time to agonize over the could’ves, would'ves, and should’ves. 

 

 Now was the time to figure out how she as going to sort all of this out, assuming anything did happen. And there was no way she planned on letting Amari in on what was going on- she'd probably just assume that the two of them were watching some kind of Saw like porn and scold her daughter for it.  Plus, if the cops got involved there’s no guarantee that they’d be able to do anything if the sender of the message was anonymous. And taking away the context behind it, they wouldn’t see it as particularly threatening either; probably just chalk it up as someone from school just pulling a prank. So essentially, she and Eren were on their own to deal with this. In the time that she’d holed herself up in the apartment, Rosalyn reluctantly turned to her own laptop to research if there were any other cases like hers, only to come across more than a dozen articles and stories about ordinary people like her who’ve had their lives destroyed by the deep web; hackers who’ve stolen their credit card info and used them to buy drugs and weapons, sending threatening messages to the cops with their phone numbers and addresses, and some of the more horrifying ones involving kidnappings from guys in masks and rub ins with contract killers. By the time she was done, Rosalyn had tired herself out pacing the floors of her apartment, anxiety sky rocking and adrenaline being surged through her body while she ran her hand though her hair and tried not to hyperventilate at the gravity of the situation. By some stroke luck, or miracle, she managed to calm down long enough to read a text from Amari saying she was on her way home. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Rosalyn to calm down and go back to her room for a short nap.    

 

With a heavy sigh, she pulled herself out of bed, phone in hand incase Amari texted her, and grudgingly treaded into the bathroom, wanting to take a quick bath after lying in bed all day. While a shower would be quicker, it’d be too loud for her to hear of someone would try to break into her house. So, a bath was the alternative. Amari was due to come home alter on tonight, initially reluctant to leave her daughter home alone believing that she’d caught the flu that was going around; hence how Rosalyn was able to get away with staying home from school for two weeks. Given how pale her skin had become along with her constant shaking and newly formed circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, it was a pretty believable excuse. Once the water was at a decent temperature and height, Rosalyn stripped herself of her pajamas and sunk into the hot water, letting one hand that was still holding her phone dangle languidly to the side. With her ears, hair, and mouth partially submerged, her nose just barely touched the water’s surface while her eyes glanced up the tiled walls and ceiling, dark with worry and holding little to no light, aside from the artificial one that shined above her. The noises from outside that drifted in from the cracked window, from the honking of car horns to the howling of the wind in the trees gave her the minimal distraction she needed to calm her frayed mind and nerves. How she went from being another product of the American dice roll to a mark for a possible kidnapping or kill, was leaps and bounds beyond her.  

 

 And God forbid if someone didn’t come for her, they’d come for the people closest to her. Either Eren, her mother, or even both. Amari didn’t have any other family, and supposedly neither did her father, Marshall. Not once in Rosalyn's life, did anyone from his past turn up and offer help to her and Amari. While they were few and far, it was situations like this that made Rosalyn contemplate if things would’ve been different if Marshall were alive. Would he have picked up on his daughter's lie as quickly and worked to dispel her worries? Would her believe a word he told her about the shit she’d seen on the deep web and move his family to safety? There were a thousand questions to about a thousand different scenarios in her head, but at the end of the day, there was no was easy answer to any of them.  After an hour of utter silence, save for her occasional heavy sighs and noises from outside the window, Rosalyn rose out of the tub and wrapped the nearby towel around her body. By now the water had gotten cool, not that she’d taken the time to wash, as Rosalyn drained the tub and trudged out of the bathroom. Back in her bedroom where the last rays of the sun began to disappear and make way for the night, she tossed her phone on the bed and dressed in a simple pair of black sweatpants and a grey v neck shirt.  

 

Just as Rosalyn prepared to make for the kitchen and find some food, her phone vibrated from her bed and showed a number that she didn’t recognize.  Because there were very few people, she gave her personal number too, she was prepared to ignore the call, until she noticed that the location was coming from somewhere in her area. Assuming that her mother’s phone had died and she was using a co worker's to reach out to her daughter, as she'd done in the past, Rosalyn hesitantly accepted the call. Immediately, she picked up on the sound of heavy breathing and rapid footsteps as though the person on the other end was running a marathon.  Furrowing her brow in confusion, she held the phone closer to her ear as she walked out of her room and made for the kitchen, only stopping in the living room to speak.  

 

“... Um hello...?” She said. No answer for another few moments until she was met with a shout of her name from an exhausted but recognizable voice . One that made her heart sink into her stomach. Eren.  

“Lynn! Lynn, thank god! Where are you?!” he shouted, breath ragged and heavy, but also pained and desperate. It was clear from his voice alone that he was fighting for his life. Something that made the hairs on the back Rosalyn’s neck and arms stand to attention while a chill swept over her, despite the lack of chill in the room.  

 

“I- I'm at home. Where are you?” she asked, worriedly, becoming more scared by the minute.  

“Listen to me, I don't have much time, you need to get to safety. Call your mom, call the cops and get out of here!” he shouted.  

 

“Why? What’s going on? Where are you?” she repeated, eyes now wide in confused disbelief. After a few more heavy breaths and rapid footsteps, was Eren able to speak again.  

“I don’t know- it's too dark. I...I don’t think I’m gonna make it, but you need to listen to me- those people from the dark web, they’re real! They got me on my way from Armin's house and kept me hostage. They starved me for days and fucking raped me! One of them- someone named Levi mentioned you by name and he’s coming for you next! You need to get out of town! Get-”

Before he could say another word, the line went dead and the sound of Eren’s muffled screams and shouts almost deafened her from the other side of the phone. From what Rosalyn could make out, it sounded like he was fighting against someone with a few punches being landed and grunts of pain being heard. Each sound that came through the other end of the phone made her knees weak and forced her to grab the edge of the couch to keep from falling over. When the line went partially quiet save for a few pained groans in the background, Rosalyn summoned up every ounce of mental strength that she could to speak, hoping beyond hope that Eren was okay, or at the very least able to talk.  

 

“Eren? Eren what’s going on? Are you there? Talk to me!” she said worriedly. But the only sound that she heard before the line went dead was the solitary sound of the dial tone. That was the final straw before she collapsed to her knees and shook until she cried.  

* * *

 

Just as he’d done the first time he was kidnapped, Eren fought with everything he had to get away from this guy who’s name he learned was Mike while the raven haired man who abused him in a daily basis was Levi. According to him, the daily abuse was to give Eren an up close and personal view at how cruel the world was just beyond the boy’s care free and oblivious life. Something that Levi drove home with bouts of sexual assault, starvation, and even helping some guy named Moblit remove bodies that were used for various other live streams. By now, the smell of blood, metal, piss, and shit had become second nature to the boy. Once Eren saw his opportunity to run, he took it, but not before he grabbed a burnout cellphone from one of Levi's lackeys. With what little strength he could muster from his meal of white rice and a single piece of overcooked chicken, he navigated his way out of the labyrinth of dark, winding hallways, florescent lights, and concrete walls. Eventually, and to his shocked delight, Eren made it outside and took greedy gulps of fresh air that engulfed him once he made his way outside into the cool calm evening.   

He wasted no time in dialing Rosalyn as he tried once again to navigate his way back to the apartment building that he called home. As soon as she picked up, he spilled his guts and tried to explain the situation as best as he could to her before he felt a familiar, large hand cover his mouth while the other one attempted to rip the phone out of his hand. But he was as powerless now as he was the first time, they did this dance. All at once, Eren was knocked by a blow to the temple making the phone fall out of his hand and clatter onto the ground, with Rosalyn’s frantic voice being the last thing he’d hear that night until he came to that same night and was met with Levi’s intense silver eyes looking down at him. Literally, looking down at Eren from the bed hat he was bound and gagged to so many times when Levi forced himself onto the boy. Yet in this moment, a fearful dread that creeped over Eren had him scared of a punishment much worse than being beaten or raped. When Levi began to play with the matted strands of Eren's’ brown hair, the boy tried to jerk his head back only to have his hair pulled in Levi’s direction, forcing him to look right at his tormentor.  His voice was a mix of amused, but had a bit of an annoyed undertone that was hard to miss.  

“Not gonna lie, that was impressive work getting away from me, brat. But I’ve seen better”, he said. Eren was smart enough not to be taken in by his words and just gave Levi the angriest glare that he could muster up, even if he was falling short by a lot. But Levi just smirked at his feeble attempts and continued the one-sided conversation.  

“What if I told you that I planned for you to get free and reach out to your little friend? She must have been worried sick about you, thinking you were dead in a fucking ditch somewhere. Well hopefully that little phone call will give her the wake up call she needs. Good job refreshing her memory about that livestream the two of you stumbled onto. Because soon enough, you’ll be staring in one of your own”, he explained, voice now taking on a much darker tone. By now, Eren’s eyes had widened to the size of dinner pots as he frantically shook his head to say no. But Levi took no mind to this and lifted himself off of the bed to pull out his phone and type something, still talking he did so.  

“No getting out of this one, Yeager. You’ve out lived your usefulness and since there’s nothing else for me to teach you, what use do I have for you other than a new body for a new live stream?” he said just in time for Mike to come in and place Eren in handcuffs before tossing the boy over his shoulder as though he weighed less than a sack of potatoes. Eren now started to scream at the top of his lungs until his voice became hoarse and saliva pooled out the sides of his mouth due to the gag. But neither Levi nor Mike were put off by this as Levi began his preparations for the next live stream, planning to give Rosalyn VIP status to see it. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having dug too deep in the underbelly of the dark web, Rosalyn Laake finds herself under a blood colored spotlight when a powerful Red Room admin sets his sights set on her. But as she soon comes to find out, the sick world above ground is no different than the one below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This chapters going a little bit of family angst as well as a major character death in graphic detail. I.E. Torture, Blood, and violence. If that's not your cup of tea, then this chapter may not be for you. Thanks again to Black_Dog (Xilianr) for their help with this story. Also, be sure to check out my Tumblr, theladyshinigami, if you'd like to RP with me, or my Instagram BriyahnaYanique.

**Saturday,** **September** **22th**  

Because Amari hadn't done any real food shopping yet, the chicken noodle soup that she’d brought her daughter was gone by 1 in that afternoon.  So by 4, Rosalyn was two shades away from starving as she laid curled up in her mother’s bed, trying to ignore her hunger, listening to the rain from outside as it pounded against the window, and agonizing over whether or not she should try Eren again before calling the police. Whatever happened to him, there was no way he’d be able to come back him on his own. She had half a mind to contact Armin or Mikasa to ask if Eren had called either them before calling her. But on the other hand, there was a good chance that they knew nothing about what the two of them had seen on that fucked up site.; so, asking them would just make her seem suspicious. And if what Eren said was true about people looking for her now, then she was bound to be in trouble that words alone couldn’t describe.  A though that came to her just in time for another twinge of hunger pain traveled through her stomach and make her shake in dismay. While its be no great feat for her to leave the apartment and go the deli across the street for a hero, the risk of getting caught was too great. Every morning when she woke up was another day for her to worry over whether or not she’d be abducted from her home. This though alone helped her forego her hunger for a while longer until the pain practically had her clenching her teeth and writhing around on the bed, cocooned in her mother’s blanket.  

 

And so, with a frustrated groan Rosalyn forced herself out of her mother's bed, combed her messy hair, threw on some clothes and rain boots, and grabbed an umbrella before begrudgingly leaving the apartment and making her way out in the rainy streets; where massive puddles were quickly forming and worms covered in dirt and mud writhed around on top of each other to try and burrow back into the earth. Even with the sun hidden behind the thick clouds, the streets didn’t look nearly as dark as they did from the bedroom. After doing a quick look at her surroundings for any suspicious persons, she quickly and quietly made her way across the street and made her way inside the deli, eyes widening slightly and sighing in frustration when she saw that there was a line with five other people buying food.  As if this day couldn't get any worse.  That was all she could think as she looked around every aspect of the store that was in her sight for anyone or thing that looked even remotely suspicious, adrenaline being shoved through the rest of her body in small doses, but enough to have her shaking in place, as though she were a junkie strung out on something. Not that anyone could blame her for it; her life was more or less on the line and there was no way of knowing of any of these random people were in on it. Before she could dwell om this any longer, a call of her name had her jumping, an extra helping of adrenaline being shoved through her body.   

 

But to her immense surprise, it was Hanji dressed in just a see-through white rain poncho that clung to her like paint and did little to hide her yellow button up shirt, black jeans, black rain boots, and usual high pony tail.  While Rosalyn was relieved to see a familiar face, Hanji didn’t seem like the type to hang around these parts. Rosalyn’s neighborhood wasn’t a bad one, but for miles, there was nothing to see but apartment complexes and corner stores. Which is why she was better off hanging out around Trost Community College. But as opposed to that, Rosalyn choose this to say instead:  

“Hanji, I um...” she muttered, half expecting Hanji to chastise her for missing so many classes, not that she seemed like the type, but still. Instead, the bespectacled woman gave her a quick look over before placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  

“Hey, Lynn what are you doing up and about in this weather? Your mom called the school and said you were sick. Do you live around here?” she asked, gesturing to the outside of the store.  Of course, she’d be more concerned about her student’s overall health than any sort of grades- something that made Rosalyn smile on the inside before running a hand through her hair and before sighing and looking past Hanji at the line she was on; at least it was finally moving.  

 

“Yeah, I still am. Just that there’s no food at my place and I’m just here getting something to munch on until my mom comes home. Just so I won’t go hungry”. She said. At this revelation, Hanji’s eyes widened in slight surprise before she gently pulled Rosalyn to the font of the line, cutting directly in front of an older Hispanic woman who shouted at them in rapid Spanish. But Hanji ignored her long enough to address the guy at the counter- a young looking guy with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and a goatee- and order a large tea with lemon and honey. In the midst of Rosalyn's protest, Hanji turned back to the woman who was still shouting at them and responded to her in her native language. 

 

 It wasn’t the fact that her teacher spoke a second language that caught Roslyn off guard, but rather the tone of voice she used when addressing the woman. As if behind her casual sounding words was a darker undertone. This was made more evident when the woman went deathly quiet and turned away from the two of them, even removing herself from the line to leave the store entirely. Before Rosalyn could think of this any further, Hanji thrusted a large Styrofoam cup in her hands, and flashed her another warm smile.  

 

“Now you drink that and run on home now”. Hanji said, resting a reassuring hand on Rosalyn’s shoulder. The warmth and comfort that it brought her was enough to make her forget about her troubles with this deep web bullshit and with Eren. So much so that she took a tentative sip of the hot tea right then and there. With her eyes slightly downcasted towards the cup, she completely missed the sympathetic gleam in Hanji’s eyes. The taste was nothing out of the ordinary and even made her lick her lips and give a short hum in satisfaction.  

 

“This is pretty good. Thank you. Once I feel up to it, I’ll be sure to pay you back”. Rosalyn replied, only for Hanji to wave her hand in dismissal.  

 

“Don’t worry about it. Just make up whatever work you missed. Take care”. She said, before leaving the store, not even sparing her student a sideways glance. She casted one more look to the blonde guy who seemed interested in what was going on between her and Hanji before going back to his work. Deciding to forgo her decision to buy something from the deli, Rosalyn readied her umbrella and made her way back outside into the pouring rain. With the umbrella in one hand and the tea in the other, she dashed across the street and back to her apartment building, making her way towards the elevator after shaking out the water from her umbrella and downing half of the cup. Even if she wasn't really sick, its be rude to waste Hanji’s generosity. As she climbed inside the elevator and pressed the panel for her floor, Rosalyn began to feel her body grow heavy with fatigue, starting from her eyelids to her knees where they began to wobble and shake. Even her attempts to keep a hold of the cup and umbrella were becoming difficult. With her waning strength, she placed her umbrella over her wrist and used her free hand to grab a hold of the wall, an keep herself upright.  

 

 It was getting so bad she could just barely make out her blurred reflection in the wall of the elevator even with how close her head was getting to it; another losing battle to keep herself awake. By the time the elevator was two floors away from hers, Rosalyn couldn’t keep hold of the cup anymore, letting it slide out of her hand and splashed onto the ground, tea spilling everywhere. But Roslyn could care less while she tried to fight off the dark circles that were gathering behind her vision and sighed in relief when the doors opened up on her floor an she staggered out; forgetting out the umbrella but still keeping a hold of the walls and breathing heavily while her legs wobble underneath her and threatened to give out at any moment. By some miracle, she made it to her door, fished her key out, and promptly collapsed into the apartment once she got the door open. With her last bit of remaining strength, Rosalyn crawled deeper inside, using her right foot to slam the door shut, and promptly passed out right there on the floor, body prone and completely unconscious. 

 

When Rosalyn finally came to, she was back in her bedroom, with her blanket placed over her. Even with how groggy her vision was, she could still make out he last few rays of sunlight that began to set behind the horizon before making way for the evening. But she only noticed this after she saw her laptop, turned on and open on her desk, and more disturbingly, broadcasting another live stream with a new person on their knees with their arms tied behind their back in a darkened room with the only light being the one shined on them, showing off blue and purple bruises that littered their chest and stomach.  The lack of breasts confirming that this person was in fact male. The only difference between the first guy and this one was that this one was conscious enough to struggle and fight against the restraints, despite his vision being blurred by the sack that was over his head. It only took a second for her vision to clear up at the sight of this while a new stream of bile began to build up in the back of her throat. Despite Rosalyn’s attempts at purging the events of that night from her mind, bits and pieces would come up anytime she tried to sleep. But now, they came back full throttle; making her eyes widen in disbelief and her body start to shake like a leaf in the dead of winter. Too scared to get any closer to her laptop, Rosalyn sat frozen, save for her shaking, and just watched from her spot on the bed. Just as it was with the previous live stream, there was a volley of comments that followed as the same hooded figure from before came into the frame.  

 

He circled his victim a few times with the cunning of a hungry animal before abruptly ripping the sack off his head and revealing a sight that made Rosalyn choke on the wad of saliva that she was going to swallow. Tied up and bruised was Eren with a gag in his mouth and two black eyes that did nothing to stop the fire that was behind his eyes. One that showed when he glared up at the hooded figure while he continued his circling and even let his fingers play with strands of Eren’s matted hair before he moved to take the gag out of his mouth; a steady stream of saliva flowing from both sides of his mouth. A fire that told Rosalyn he’d been through literal hell but refused to be grinded down.  Unless that was just a camera problem or a trick of the light. Either way, Rosalyn fought back every nerve in her body that would have her scream out to Eren to see if he was okay.  If what he said was true, then it was only a matter of time before she found herself tied down and subjugated to God only knows what for the amusement of others. One terrible thought after another running through her mind as the hooded figure stopped his motions and swiftly kicked Eren in the face, knocking out a tooth.  

 

A quick grunt and groan of pain came from Eren followed a coughing fit as his tooth skirted across the floor. Without giving him a moment to recover, the hooded figure raised his knee and collided it with the right side of Eren’s temple. A sickening crack followed before another barrage of kicks and groans followed until Eren’s face looked as soft as a boiled apple with rivers of blood seeping out from his mouth, nose, and even his right eye was a blood vessel was broken. That was all Rosalyn could see before Eren’s face was slammed into the ground; his head firmly underneath his attackers’ boot only to be stomped on repeatedly; the wet, squishing thuds were loud enough to echo all around her room until Rosalyn finally broke free of her horrified stupor and covered her ears to try and block them out, but kept her eyes glued to the screen.  

Six stomps in and the hooded figure’s black combat boot was now stained a bright shade of red and even a twinge of grey with Eren’s grey matter. The rest of his body laid face down and un moving with the back of his head completely caved in with a sloppy but gaping hole where the figure’s foot had been.  Rosalyn could only look at it for a few seconds before she jumped out of bed and moved to vomit in the trash can near her desk. 

 

 It only took three heaves for her to completely expel the leftover tea from her system. Everything else was just dry heaves and coughs. And once that was out of the way, all there was for Rosalyn to do was cry at what she'd just witnessed; the scent of her own vomit burning her nasal cavity and prompting more tears to well up and spill down her cheek while her heart sank deep into her chest; the same feeling that came over her the first time but now even stronger than before. After a solid 30 minutes, she found the strength to pull her head out of the trash, but made the mistake of looking at her laptop where instead g the live stream was now a black and white image of singe rose in a slim vase that began to wilt and die until even the stem was reduced to nothing. After a bit of static, the screen went completely black save for a new text that was printed across the bottom.   

**Are you the hunt? No, we are the hunters**  

* * *

 

Once the live stream as over, Levi made quick work taking off his soiled boots and motioning for Mike to dispose of the human shaped pile of meat that was Eren Yeager. From another corner of the room, the sound of hands quickly typing across the keyboard of a laptop echoed off the stone walls until Levi spoke up.  

“So how much did we take in this time, Hanji?” The bespectacled woman typed in a few more numbers before tucking a loose strand of her bang behind her ear and eventually responding.  

“Well it’s probably pocket change compared to what you usually make, but...” Deciding to let the numbers speak for themselves, Hanji turned the computer to face Levi. He came closer after changing into a new pair of shoes and after scanning the monitor for a little while, he hummed and nodded in approval.  

“Not bad. How are things with the girl?” he asked, referring to Rosalyn. Knowing Levi, he probably already knew the answer to his own question, but just wanted the extra confirmation. As if hacking her laptop camera wasn’t enough.  

“Well, by the time I reached her floor of the apartment, she was passed out in her own doorway. So, I put her to bed and got everything ready on her laptop”. She explained. Levi gave another nod of approval, silver eyes gleaming with satisfaction while he typed out something on his phone. While she wasn’t completely on board with this plan of his and had grown to like Rosalyn, Hanji spoke up again and voiced her own opinion on this matter.  

“You know, she may share her father’s looks, but that doesn’t mean she shared his choices. Would it kill you to go easy on her?” She asked; tone of voice heavy with concern. But this only earned a glare from Levi but otherwise he kept typing on his phone and began to make his way towards the door.  

“Would it kill you to shut your damn mouth and do as I say?” he replied, tone of voice leaving no room for argument as he walked out, closing the door behind him. It was futile to make him see even a tiny bit of reason, but it was worth a try if Hanji could keep Rosalyn from experiencing the kind of depravity that she, and Levi, and everyone else in the Survey Corpses had grown a thick skin to.  With Levi's mind made up and Hanji’s hands tied, the most she could do was be a shoulder for the girl to cry on when it came to that.  

* * *

 

**Friday, September 28** **th**  

If Rosalyn wasn’t sick before, there wasn’t a doubt in anyone's mind that she was clearly unwell now; anyone being Amari who was quick to notice the changes in her daughter's behavior and movements- reclusive, reluctant to talk, trouble sleeping, not eating, and vomiting what little food she did eat. As thought, she had some kind of stomach virus that wouldn't let her keep anything down. Watching her daughter suffer like this was taking its toll on Amari, but for Rosalyn, every day was a like waking up to a nightmare. What little sleep that she got was plagued by actual nightmares and flashbacks of that previous live stream that had her jolting out of bed in the middle of the night and going to sleep with Amari in her bed. 

 On average, she got about three hours of sleep that showed with deeper and darker circles under her eyes coupled with a loss of appetite that she tried to cover up with only a few bites of cereal here or half of a sandwich there. But even this wasn't enough to combat the light headedness, nausea, and fatigue that she felt. Before Amari could think to take her daughter to the doctor, a knock on the door that Friday halted her plans completely when she opened the door to reveal two uniformed officers asking to come inside. Rosalyn caught sight of them just as one was closing the door and another was looking around the apartment before his eyes finally landed on Rosalyn and beckoned her forward from out of her room.  

   
“Miss, could you come here please?”, he asked, waving a hand towards himself. Knowing that she was in no position to refuse a police officer, Rosalyn reluctantly came forward into the living room and into her mother's embrace where they both sat on the couch. Both officers loomed over them but kept a respectable distance so as not to look as though they were crowding the two women. Eventually, one of the officers spoke, addressing Amari.  

 

“Ma’am, we’re investigating the disappearance of Eren Yeager. We were told by a Mrs. Carla Yeager that you and your daughter were the last people to see him.  Did either of you notice anything strange about his behavior prior to his going missing?”, he asked, looking back and forth between mother and daughter as he finished his sentence. 

 

“Baby, weren’t you and Eren hanging out as his place the last time you spoke to him?”, Amari asked. Rosalyn nodded her head and hummed yes, but didn't trust her words enough to speak up. One of the officers picked up on this and turned to her directly.   

 

“Did he say or do anything that struck you as odd? What were the two of you doing?”, he asked. Exhaling a breath that she didn't know she was holding, Rosalyn did her best to make eye contact with the officers and stumbled over her words a few times before she could form a coherent sentence. Easier said than done with three pairs of expectant eyes starting down at her. 

“...We um- we just hung out, did some homework, watched YouTube videos, ate... and that was about it. I left early since I wasn't feeling well and we haven't spoken since”, She replied quietly.  One of the officers finished taking notes and watched her carefully for any facial cues that showed if she was lying or not.  While he did this, his partner asked his next few questions.   

 

“Well did he say anything that may have tipped you off that something was wrong?” he asked. Before Rosalyn could say anything, Amari interjected on her daughters’ behalf.  

 

“Hold on, you’re not saying that my daughter’s a suspect, are you?” she asked, slightly offended.  

“No ma'am, but we do have to examine every possibility. We’ve already spoken to his parents, sister, and friend and Mrs. Yeager said that your daughter was one of the last people to see Eren around”, the officer explained while his partner put away his notebook and began to look around the apartment; bending down slightly to take a close look at a framed picture of Amari and Marshall while he was still alive. He had the same bronze complexion as his wife and daughter but with a wider nose, a square face, and muddy brown eyes with a head of black hair styled in a buzz cut. 

 

“Is this your husband, ma’am? Is he around to talk at all?” he asked. To which Amari shook her head dejectedly but still and kept a tight hold on her daughter who reciprocated her actions.  It wasn’t the officer’s question that set her off, but rather the assumption that he made that Marshall was still alive at all.  

 

“Yes, that’s my late husband, and no he’s not around because he’s been dead for 18 years.”, she replied, unaware of the way her daughter observed her with a twinge of dark skepticism in her eyes. Seeing that he struck a nerve with her, the officer gave a short bow of his head in apology and moved to stand near his partner again, reaching into his shirt pocket to remove a card and place it on the table separating the four of them.  

 

“I’m sorry for your loss. If either of you can think of anything, even something that seems insignificant, don't hesitate to call the precinct.  You too have a nice day”, he replied, motioning for his partner to follow him out the door. Amari let go of her daughter long enough to follow close behind them and towards the door’s entry way, closing it behind them with a sigh of relief until Rosalyn spoke up from her corner of the couch, voice barely above a sigh.   

“Why don’t we talk about him?” she asked. Amari raised a quizzical eyebrow at her daughter before responding.  

 

“What's that?” she responded, wanting to make sure she heard her daughter correctly. Rosalyn didn't hesitate to repeat herself, wearing a grimace on her face.  

 

“Why don't we ever talk about him? This the first time you've talked about my dad in 18 years. Why is that?” she asked, making sure that her mother heard the anguish in her voice loud and clear. Amari now wore an expression that was a mix between shock and uncertainty before sighing deeply and going back to where her daughter sat on the couch, standing over her.   

 

“Because there nothing to talk about, baby. We were together for a few years, we had you on the way and he died, that’s it. There’s nothing else to tell”, she explained. But Rosalyn wasn’t satisfied and tried to fish for more answers.  

 

“Isn’t there? His pictures are hanging, up but you barely even acknowledge them.  You don’t even bother to ask me how I feel about him”, she said now raising her voice slightly. Amari now narrowed her eyes at both her daughter’s words and tone of voice and put her foot down.  

 

“Watch your mouth, alright? You’ve never once come to me about wanting to know more about your dad so what was the point. I’m telling you you’re fine, Lynn”, she replied, her voice leaving no more room for argument or discussion. The tension that now hung in the air was about as thick as a cloud of smoke as Rosalyn stood up from the couch and retreated back to her room, throwing herself on the bed and burying he face in the blankets and pillows to cry.  

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having dug too deep in the underbelly of the dark web, Rosalyn Laake finds herself under a blood colored spotlight when a powerful Red Room admin sets his sights set on her. But as she soon comes to find out, the sick world above ground is no different than the one below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry its taken me half a month to update a new chapter, and that this one is going to be a bit shorter. School and work ate up more of time than I'd realized. But I'm back now, and just in time for the new season of AOT to drop. *Shivers internally* Nonetheless, I want to say another massive thank you to Xilianr for helping me make this story as coherent as it is. Be sure to check out her profile here and on Tumblr, and mine too while you're at it. Just search up theladyshinigami.

**Wednesday, October 10** **th**  

   Two weeks later, and knowing that her attendance was probably plummeting, plus still smarting from her mother’s words, Rosalyn reluctantly dragged herself back to school, now watching every aspect of her surroundings and carrying a utility blade that she knew her mother had but never used. Apparently, it was a Christmas gift from one of her co works at the hospital.  But now her daughter was using it to protect against any possible attackers as she got off the train and practically ran into the college. Anyone who took notice of this would just assume she was running late for classes.  

 

 Surprisingly enough, the school day was pretty normal, if not completely uneventful. Hanji was glad to see her again and bought her another cup of tea at the Liberte’ café but beyond that, nothing else really happened that was a cause for alarm or worry. That is until late into the afternoon when Hanji had seen that Rosalyn brought her camera along, hoping to print a few pictures from the school computers once classes were over. After tipping her off that the meat packing district a few blocks from the school was a pretty popular spot for the school’s film club, and encouraging her to student to try her luck did Rosalyn make her way there, camera and utility blade at the ready.  True to Hanji’s word, the meat packing district was a great place to play around and take a few pictures. Some applying the rule of thirds while others were a bit more abstract.   

 

About 20 minutes into taking pictures did Rosalyn stumble upon a peculiar sight. A few feet away from where she as standing were two men, dressed to the nines in expensive looking business suits. One was an older bald man with a grey mustache who was drinking from a silver flask, and the other was much younger and broader with blonde hair styled in an undercut, and sharp blue eyes. From where she was standing, Rosalyn couldn't hear their conversation, but something in the back of her mind and the pit of her stomach told her she had no business trying to eavesdrop.  But that didn't stop her from staring. After a while, she couldn’t help but notice that the two men were standing precariously close to a black SUV that had one of the doors come open and two buff looking men carry something out. A long package that looked to be about 6’3 and wrapped in a black bag that was tied up and secured with rope.  The burly looking men carried it by either end and into one of the meat packing warehouses. The two men watched it with cold eyes before turning back to each other and carrying on their conversation. While Rosalyn knew that it was probably nothing, something about the way that package was shaped was reminiscent of.... ‘No, no way. No way in hell they’re loading something like that into the warehouse’.  She thought to herself as she froze in place, trying to clear away the cloud of dark thoughts and memories that began to cloud her mind.  

 

After a while, the blue eyes of the blonde man looked up and were now locked on Rosalyn, narrowing at her as though her presence alone annoyed him. His older friend noticed this too and shot her a similar look before moving towards her with the stealth and cunning of an animal out of blood. Realizing the predicament that she was in, Rosalyn began to move backwards, not even wanting to break eye contact with the two men in case they decided to break into a sprint and chase after her. This continued for a few more steps, until her back collided with something hard and firm. Looking up, her eyes made brief contact with a tall figure wearing a black ski mask that covered their whole face. This was the last thing she saw before something dull but hard hit the back of her head, her vision became blurry, and she fell face first onto the pavement. She didn’t know how long she was out for, but when she came to, Rosalyn was back in her living room, laying on the couch with her mother and two uniformed officers standing over her. Their name tags simply read Gunther and Eld. Gunther was a man of average height with brown eyes, thick brown hair, a tan complexion, and a muscular build; while Eld had a more olive complexion with brown eyes, blonde hair tied in a short bun and stubble on his chin.  

 

 While they both stood calm, cool, and collected, Amari was practically in tears and immediately rushed to embrace her daughter. While she was taken aback by this, Rosalyn was in no position to stop her and just kept her eyes locked on the officers before her, voice hoarse when she finally she spoke.   

“..Wha-what happened...?” she asked.  

 

“You were attacked and mugged near the meat packing district. We received a call after two of the truck drivers found you unconscious on the pavement. After IDing and putting you in an ambulance for evaluation, we called your mother and brought you back home. Now thankfully, you haven’t been hurt but you were out for about 6 hours, give or take”, Gunther explained. Once he finished speaking, Amari took her turn to chime in, voice heavy with unmistakable fear.  

 

“What the hell were you doing all the way over there anyway? You were supposed to come straight home after school”, she chastised. But Rosalyn didn’t answer right away, still repeating the officer’s words in her head. Taking all of this in, Rosalyn briefly remembered the two men she saw and the package that looked strikingly similar to a body before her eyes widened with sudden realization. If they saw her, they more than likely saw her camera around her neck too.  Still without answering Amari’s question, she turned to the officers and partially sat up from her spot on the couch.  

 

“You said that I was mugged. What specifically did they take?” she asked.  To which Eld opened up his notebook to read something before he answered her question as best as he could.   

 

“According to the drivers who found you, they saw your attacker walking away with what looked like a camera. Aside from that, all of your things were still on your person”.  This caused a glob of saliva to choke up in Rosalyn’s throat. That camera had been a Christmas present from her mother that she used practically every day. She didn’t even want to look at Amari’s face worries she might see how angry her mother now was. But against her better judgement, Rosalyn looked out of her peripheral vision, only to see to her immense surprise that Amari didn’t even looked close to angry. If anything, the look on her face was more or less disappointment. Before Rosalyn could ponder this a bit more, Eld spoke up again while his partner looked back and forth between her mother and around the apartment. The pregnant silence that filled the room was now broken.  

 

“Were you able to get a good look at your attacker?” But all she could do was shake her head, keeping her eyes slightly down casted as she felt a headache coming on. The most that she could remember were minute details that would fit just about any body’s profile.  

“Whoever they were, they were wearing a ski masked and looked about 6’3 with broad shoulder and wearing all black, just like the mask. I’m sorry, that’s all I know”, she said, solemnly. Eld wrote all of this down in his notebook, nodding as he did so before asking another question.  

“Now, as our as your mother has asked, what exactly were you doing near the meat packing district?”. It wasn’t a hard question, but for a reason that she couldn't explain, Rosalyn came down with a creeping feeling that the two of them were fishing for a specific answer, especially the one who kept looking around the apartment. This gut instinct alone pushed her to lie to all three adults in the room.  

“My last class of the day ended early so I figured I’d walk around the neighborhood for a bit.  Maybe find a spot to eat or something”.  For a fraction of a second the officer who was taking notes shot her a look that made her heart seize up in her chest and a wave of goosebumps blanket her skin.  As though he knew that she was lying and wanted her to know how flimsy it was. But as quickly as it came, the look was gone and the officer was back to taking notes.  If his partner was aware of it, he made no moves to suggest otherwise. After another 30 minutes of asking questions, the officers made their departure as Amari showed them out the door and closing it behind her with a deep sigh. Rosalyn knew from prior experience that a sigh that deep was the result of pure exhaustion. If not about work, then worrying over her daughter, especially when there was no need to. But now that an actual need been brought up, Rosalyn couldn’t' help but feel guilty. She hung her head in a manner similar to her Amari’s until the sound of her mothers’ approaching footsteps reached her ears.   

 

Eventually, her feet and knee caps came into her daughter’s line of sight followed by her cold hands on Rosalyn’s face and gently lifted it up to look at Amari’s pained eyes- a shade the same as her daughters' but now a tad darker.  

“I have to cover this last shift at work but once that’s over, I’m gonna take some time off to take better care of you. It’s the least I can do after everything's that happened with Eren and...” Figuring that that was the last thing her daughter wanted to hear, Amari’s words trailed off until she was on her feet again and making for her bedroom to get ready to head out. Meanwhile Rosalyn hadn't so much as bat an eye from her spot on the couch, still trying to digest the information from the cops. Not to mention the look that one officer sent her way, as though he knew something she didn’t. And the creeping feeling of suspicion that it left her with was more than she could handle. A gut feeling that she couldn’t afford to ignore and forced her onto her feet and out the door of her apartment to go and find where those cops had gone.  When she glanced down from the stairwell, she could hear heavy footsteps and indistinct conversation coming from the fifth floor going downward. Keeping a tight hold of the railing, Rosalyn rushed down the stairs, going two at a time until those familiar blue uniforms came into her line of sight.  

“Wait a minute!” she shouted. Eld was he first one to turn and look at her, making Gunther notice and due the same. Once she was close enough to touch them, she spilled her guts.  

“I lied to you both up there. I’m sorry, but I was too scared to say this in front of my mom. Eren isn’t missing, he’s dead. We were messing around online and we found this fucked up website and this video of a guy being torture and I know we did something wrong and stupid, but we were just fooling around online- we didn’t know what we were doing, and I got scared and left his place after that. Then Eren called me later into the week and said someone was coming for us before the line went dead and someone uploaded his death online and I didn’t know what to do and”- Before she could say another word, Gunther held his hand up to stop her from speaking.  Eld stood off to the side, but looked around for anyone who may come up from behind either them or Rosalyn while as his partner nodded in understanding and straightened up his posture so that he stood directly in front of the girl.   

“Okay, now you said Eren contacted you about some people who came after the two of you. Did he say a name?” Gunther asked, suspiciously. Well, more suspicious than a cop should've been. Rosalyn struggled to formulate an answer, until she finally found one, doing her best not to show her fear.  

“...H-he just said that some guy named Levi from that fucked up website came and kidnapped him”. Neither Gunther or Eld were fazed by this new bit of info, until Gunther muttered something to Eld that Rosalyn picked up on.  

“Sounds about right”. Off to the side of him, Eld nodded in agreement and pulled out his phone to type something while Gunther watched. Rosalyn narrowed her eyes in confusion at what he’d said. As though he’d dealt with cases like this a million times before.  But she wasn’t sure whether or not to be comforted by this bit of speculation.   

“What sounds about right?”, she asked before she could think to stop herself. Both Gunther and Eld now fixed her with a hard glare that made her heat skip a beat and take a step back from the men.  In that moment, Rosalyn's mind flashbacked to the two men from the meat packing district who fixed her with the same look before she was attacked. Like a pack of wolves ready to kill a hare with its bare teeth. All at once, her heart started to plummet in her stomach as she swallowed a lump of saliva that she almost choked on to quench her now dry throat while Gunther spoke.  

“Cases like this one where kids like you who got smarted by the world one time and use that as an excuse to do whatever the fuck you want thinking there wouldn't be any sort of consequences. Now that one of you has been snatched up, you can’t do anything except piss yourself while you run and hide behind mommy”, he said with a tone of contempt that would normally be reserved for a convicted criminal, not a scared and confused 18-year-old girl.  

“Excuse me? I just told you something that’ll make your case. Why aren’t you two taking this seriously?” she asked, not caring if her words came out as rude. He wasn’t exactly being civil anymore either. But rather than be offended by her words, Gunther just scoffed in disbelief while Eld stood impassively beside his partner.  

“Murder and abduction aren’t exactly new to anybody- especially in a place as shady as the dark web. It’s been happening since Gods were invented to forgive people for doing it. Your almost an adult, you should’ve known...What the hell am I saying? There's no way you could've known. Your still just a kid- ignorant to how sick the world really is. And even more ignorance to the mess your dad left you to clean up”. Rosalyn was only half listening to what Gunther said, not really seeing a point for miles, but when he brought up her father, that was enough for him to hook her.  

“...What? What does he have to do with this...?” she asked, more confused than upset that her prior question still went unanswered. Eld used this as his opportunity to step in, placing a hand on Gunther's shoulder to make him step aside so that he now faced the girl, tone of voice equally impassive to match his face.   

“Look, the point we’re trying to make is that it’s too late to be sorry, sweetie. Your just wasting time and tears trying to make amends for what’s already been done; courtesy of your dad, of course. My advice: just sit back and deal with the hand you’ve been dealt. Your grave's already been dug. Now all that’s left is to pay the funeral director”. With that, the pair turned and waked out the door of the apartment complex, not even giving the stunned girl a sideways glance as she collapsed onto her knees. Back outside, Eld and Gunther made for their car and prepared to climb inside, but not before they picked up the distinct sound of a high-pitched scream coming from back inside the apartment. 

* * *

Sitting lazily in his arm chair with one leg hanging  lazily off the edge, and the other flat on he ground, Levi flicked through the rolls of pictures on Rosalyn's camera that he obtained from Mike. While his face didn't give any emotion away, he was partially impressed by what he saw. The girl had talent, there was no denying that. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could kill two birds with one stone, and still get is pound of flesh. Earlier that day, one of his good friends, and a big fish in donating to his livestreams, Erwin Smith had come to him saying his "business transaction" with some old coder named Pixis was interrupted by Rosalyn. Hence, where Mike came in to grab the camera and bring it back to Levi to see if she took any pictures that were grounds for incrimination. He was already instructed to scope out the apartment and tail her in case she left, so this was more or less a milk run for the taller man. Of course Hanji had to chime in and give her two cents on how "knocking her out and leaving her on the pavement was overkill". But Levi sent her off with a flippant wave and a suck of his teeth. Whatever bruise she sustained would be nothing compared to what he had in store for her.  Just as he reached the end of the camera reel, a loud chime from his phone made him set the camera in his lap to answer it with one hand. It was a text alert from Eld with an audio file attached to it. Simply put, it read: 

**The girl's two moves away from your checkmate and the mother's none the wiser. Give this a listen; it might be useful to you.** The audio file was simply Rosalyn's screams from inside of the apartment that went on for about 30 seconds. 30 seconds of pure, blood curdling terror and hopelessness in that single sound that made a small, but satisfied smile on Levi's face.  He didn't respond to Eld right away and simply opened up a new text message to be sent to someone named Olou, still smiling as he did so. 

**The girl's right where we need her. Start moving in on the mother. Tonight**


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having dug too deep in the underbelly of the dark web, Rosalyn Laake finds herself under a blood colored spotlight when a powerful Red Room admin sets his sights set on her. But as she soon comes to find out, the sick world above ground is no different than the one below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologize in advance at how short this chapter is going to be. I'm almost done with school but just started a new summer internship and will be busier than normal. This one's going to be more centered on the other Amari and her involvement in this. Want to give another thank you to Xilianr for helping me make head and tails of this story.

**October 10th.** **10:30 PM**  

On her evening shift, Amari sat behind her desk, shall wrapped over her shoulders to keep out the cold of the AC with a cup of warm tea an arm's length away.  The evening was a slow one, with only two phone calls taken and a few papers faxed to her supervisor.  It was tedious work compared to the early afternoons, but there was no one else on the schedule to do it. Otherwise, she’d be home with Rosalyn an taking care of her.  ‘Just three more hours to go’, she thought to herself. While nothing came above her daughter, she just needed to cover this last shift to get in her hours and have a bit more money.  

This way if Roslyn did need to go to the hospital, she’d cover whatever the costs were. In the back of her mind, Amari felt guilty for not taking more efficient care of her daughter.  While she saw the push to go to college as a good show of support, there was a microscopic bit of doubt that ate away at he as to why she’d been so hush hush about Marshall. But she knew the answer all too well. There was next to nothing to tell about her late husband- rather her late lover whose baby she was carrying. But that didn’t change the fact that he was Rosalyn's father and a good man to boot.  

When the two of them met, he was clearly battle hardened by God only knew what- not that he gave any specifics beyond recently surviving bad circumstances. That was all Amari needed to hear to shut up and develop a sort of complex to help him get back on his feet.  Even if his past remained to be talked about, Amari pushed it to the back of her mind for the sake of focusing on the present and building a better future. Marshall was wary of he and her intentions, but after a solid year of sideways glances, missteps, and general strangeness between the two of them, they fell in love, and were on the verge of talking about marriage before Amari got pregnant and he became a corpse.   

 

That first trimester was Hell on Earth for Amari to the point where she was on the verge of getting an abortion until one of the girls who worked in her hospital, a sweet redhead named Petra helped her pull through it all and even delivered Rosalyn and showed her how to raise a newborn. The two of them drifted apart after that, but still kept in semi-regular contact around the hospital. Nonetheless, his memory still lingered in her mind, hence why his pictures were still around her house. In hindsight, it was a foolish mistake on Amari’s part to not have at least dug into his past on her own time.  

 

Maybe, she could've saved herself a lot of this left-over heart ache left behind by his memory. Maybe she could have a more open relationship with her daughter rather than tip toeing around the matter before changing the subject to something more important. But Amari’s train of though was interrupted by a guy with a tanned complexion and hair styled in an undercut walked up to the desk she sat at.   

“Hi, sir. How can I help you?” she asked, politely. But the guy just gave her a blank expression that didn’t suit him before speaking.  

“Just here to book an appointment with Dr. Brisenska”, he replied, not even making eye contact. 

“Alright, name please?” Amari asked, preparing to type a name into the keyboard.  This time, the guys tone came out as clipped as though he didn’t want to have to repeat himself a second time.  

“Olou Bozado”, he replied. Amari just ignored it and typed in his name followed by Rico’s to see her schedule availability. Meanwhile, Olou just kept looking around the hospital an at a clip board of hospital ads and memos on health and safety with regards to everything from drugs and alcohol to stranger danger and the internet.  But Olou just scoffed as thought there was some kind of obscenity that needed to be addressed in them.  

 

“Brats really need to be protected from everything nowadays. Drugs, strangers, Hell even the Internet has become dangerous”.  But Amari kept talking as she scanned the monitor and typed on a few more keys.  

 "Well it can't be helped. Danger comes up when you least expect it and our kids are none the wiser- that's why it needs to be talked about. One of my daughters' friends recently went missing" she said, before taking a drink of her black tea. But Olou remained unfazed by her words, even clicking his tongue as though he actually disapproved of what she said before responding, disdain evident on his face, even when he still faced the board.  

 

“Oh sure. Another poor, innocent kid gets kidnapped by the big, bad predators of the world while his parents grieve on their hands and knees, thinking where they went gone wrong. How it could’ve been prevented”, he said before turning to face Amari, face blank, but still disdainful.   

“What a load of shit. Maybe if parents were more honest with their kids and didn’t shelter them from what really goes on in the so call “civilized” world, they wouldn't stray onto the deep web and get snatched up so easily.  Or better yet, maybe if parents were more open and honest about their own transgressions, their kids wouldn’t have to suffer behind them. And you’re no different- your daughter and her little friend wouldn't be in this fix now had you been straight with her about the skeletons in your closet, instead of playing the innocent victim.  Going on as though nothing’s wrong before and after you spread your legs for a man you hardly knew”, Olou explained, voice nothing short of venomous. Amaris’s own face was startled by his explanation until he brought up her sleeping with a guy, she hardly new. At that point, Amari was well aware of his insinuation and her expression morphed into pure shock mixed with detest. She narrowed her eyes at the guy and prepared to rise to her feet until she was brought back down by a sudden dizzy spell, but that didn't stop her from telling him off.  

“Excuse me?  Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leav-” Before she could finish the last of her sentence, Amari was stopped by a coughing fit that felt as though it would suffocate her ribcage. Her eyes going wide with alarm while she placed a hand over her mouth. But Olou dint seem the least bit concerned with this and just came closer to where she sat on the other side of the desk, venom still evident in his tone of voice.  

“You really think you’re prepared for what s out there? Preaching about the dangers of the world and attempting to practice safety with all this security watching your every move? Yet you didn't even check for what you put in your own body”. That was all Amari cold here before she collapsed to ground, convulsing sporadically while foaming at the mouth. From close by another woman in duty caught sight of this and rushed to Amari’s aid yelling for two more nurses and security to help her. Immediately Olou switched gears to a more bewildered and apprehensive expression once help arrived for Amari.  

“I don’t know what happened. We were talking for a bit and then she just collapsed” he replied, feigning innocence. Luckily, no one really paid him any mind and just put Amari on a stretcher before taking her to the ER while one the nurses went to the computer to pull up the woman’s emergency contacts.  With attention taken away from him, Olou made his way out of the hospital, texting on his phone as he did so.  **Mom’s been taken care of.  You can now move on to her kid.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to follow me on Tumblr at theladyshinigami for more chapter updates.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having dug too deep in the underbelly of the dark web, Rosalyn Laake finds herself under a blood colored spotlight when a powerful Red Room admin sets his sights set on her. But as she soon comes to find out, the sick world above ground is no different than the one below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that it's been a minute since I last updates chapters, and I'm sorry that this chapter may be a tad short, but school, life, and Writer's Block had me trapped like an avalanche. But I'm back in the game for the time being, and am ready to see this story through to the end. Also, here's a massive thank you to Black_Dog (Xilianr) for helping me make this story a tad more coherent.

Back inside the apartment, Rosalyn was back in her mother’s room, tangled up in her blankets and sheets, heart heavy, body shaking, and still waiting for her voice to heal from the screaming she’d done out of the emotional agony she was still grappling with. Not only was she powerless to get the cops involved, but they were less interested in helping her as much as they were seeing her downfall. She’d always thought that the archetype of the corrupt cops in a big city was just meant to be found in fiction. But seeing it up close and personal made her blood run cold and the hairs on her neck stand to attention with no hope of going back to normal. The words of both officers still rang fresh in her mind clear as a bell. 

** Your grave’s already been dug. All that’s left is to pay the funeral director. ** She tried to shake the though away and the implication behind it, face contorted in desolation and sheer unmistakable pain.  Rosalyn prepared to turn onto her back before the feeling of her phone vibrating from on her side made her sit up and look at the caller ID, not quite picking it up yet. Once again it was coming from somewhere in her area, but in her  forlorn state of mind and reminded of the last time she answered a call like this, she rejected it completely and just turned onto her back as she originally planned to do. Staring up at the blank ceiling brought a tiny bit of comfort to her, but not enough to ease her burden. Before she could even think about resting her eyes, her phone vibrated again and she sighed, looking down at her phone again to see the same number as before.  

Before she could think to just turn her phone off completely, the thought that it was her mother calling registered in her mind a she took up the phone and reluctantly answered it.  The voice in the other end was a woman who sounded nothing like her mother but had an air of professionalism that made her worried.  

“Hello, may I speak to Rosalyn Laake?” 

“Speaking”, Rosalyn replied, swallowing a lump of salvia to try and alleviate the soreness. 

“You were listed an emergency contact for one Amari Laake. I just wanted to inform you that she’s been admitted to Trost hospital.  Earlier this evening, she suffered some kind of severe allergic reaction and we’re keeping her overnight for observation. If you want to come down and see her-” That was everything Rosalyn heard before an even more prevalent sound caught her attention from somewhere outside of the bedroom and down the hall- specifically from the front door.  Because the bedroom was just cracked, not fully closed, Rosalyn could hear whatever noises were made in the rest of the apartment. And what she heard now was the lock on the front door being opened up, despite the fact that she and her mother were the only ones who had keys to get in. 

All at once the, voice of the woman on the other end of her phone faded in to the background until she pressed the call end button to cancel out any unnecessary noises before going to hide in the back of the closet next to the bed.  Shrouded in darkness and with her knees drawn up to her chest, and her hand over her mouth, Rosalyn tried to the best of her ability to stop her shaking while she listened for sound of the door coming unlocked and heavy footsteps moving into the apartment, starting in the hallway, moving into the kitchen before going back down the hallway, briefly stopping in the bathroom , going to Rosalyn’s room for a while, and  finally coming to its  next and final  stop: Amari’s bedroom. The footsteps that were steady and cautious mingled with the sound Rosalyn’s frantic heartbeat in her ears. Adrenaline practically being shoved down her throat and to the rest of her body as the footsteps were accompanied by the rustling of bed sheets until they were pulled off completely. She knew it was only matter of time before whoever this was looked in the closet to find her. 

But in her fear-stricken state of mind, all Rosalyn could think to do was crawl of to the left side that was shrouded in mostly boxes and hung up coats and shirts that kept her partially hidden along with the closet’s own darkness. Heaving a short sigh of relief, Rosalyn closed the door in behind her and backed herself into the closet corner as far as she could go.  With only two seconds to spare before the door was fully opened, she drew her knees up to her chest, putting one hand on her mouth, and the other  firmly  on the ground to steady herself.  The sound of quick and heavy footsteps barging into the bedroom and turning over everything in sight with loud crashes and thuds mingled with her own frantic heartbeat that drummed in her ears a mile a second.  But it wouldn't be long before whoever this was would run out of places to look.

 Rosalyn's hand stayed on the ground until her fingers brushed against something smooth and cylindrical. She felt it up for a while longer until she got a better sense of what it was: a wooden baseball bat. A microscopic bit of hope began to blossom in Rosalyn's chest once she got a better hold of it. But somewhere down the line, hope gave way to boldness and she cracked open the closet door to look outside, the footsteps eventually slowing down on the other side of the closet. From where she was seated on the ground, all she could make out as the dresser that was pulled out of its usual spot against the wall- as if she could fit behind there anyway. Along with the pulled-out dresser was the overturned mattress from the bed that had the sheets still on it.  Before Rosalyn could exhale her next sigh and swallow the saliva that was gathering in her mouth, the closet doors were wretched open to reveal a masked- more than likely the same one who attacked her in the meat packing district.  As soon as he made eye contact with her through his mask, Rosalyn swung the bat at his crotch, hoping to bring him down by going for his softer bits. But he grabbed the bat mid swing with one gloved and hand, yanked it out of her grip, and tossed it to the side like it was nothing. 

With no other options and her only weapon, Rosalyn scrambled to her feet and tried to shove her way past him, now thoroughly frantic and scared for her life. The attacker moved faster and grabbed her arm tighter than a clamp, pulling her back into his chest, and pulling something out of his back pocket that turned out to be a syringe. Seeing this, Rosalyn’s fight or flight instincts in and she sunk her teeth into his hand, biting down as hard as she could. The attacker let out a shout of pain and used the other hand that was holding the syringe to punch her in the face and loosen her painful hold on his hand, unintentionally letting her go. The punch had Rosalyn seeing stars, but as she was now running on pure adrenaline, she only ha to stager to her feet a few before bolting out of the apartment, into the hallway and down the stairs, knowing the elevator would take too long.  While she began jumping down the stairs two at a time and holding onto the railing to make sure she didn’t trip, she heard the distinct sound of rapidly approaching footsteps coming from above and coming towards her. 

But not once did Rosalyn turn around to look confirm just how close he was. With the main entrance of the ground floor lobby in sight, she sprinted towards it with everything she had, barreling through the front door until she was greeted with the cool night air and a pitch-black street that was sparsely luminated by the orange streetlights from above. She frantically looked back and forth for any incoming people or cars that she could runt to for help since calling Amari at this hour was out of the question. And it wasn’t like Carla Yeager was in the mood to help another child since her own was a corpse in a ditch somewhere; unbeknownst to her.  Before she could think of which direction to run in that had the most people, the sound of the main door being bashed open and heavy footsteps running in behind her had Rosalyn bolting it to the left and making another sharp right into the apartment alley way  and  climbing her way up the nearby fire escape.  Every now and again, she and Eren would climb into it for hours on end and just let the day pass by in a haze of summer laziness. But never in a million years did she think she'd be using it to escape what she though was certain death. 

Not surprisingly, the railing was cold and slightly damp from the rain, but not slippery enough to make her slip and lose her balance. Once she was high up enough to get a clear view of the ground below, Rosalyn tightly held onto the railing, doing her best not to move or even breathe too loudly. Just in time for the masked assailant to run down the alleyway at full speed and stop in their tracks to look all around for her; checking in the dumpsters and behind nearby cardboard boxes. Eventually, they pulled out their phone and turned on the flashlight since the dimly lit lights in the alleyway didn’t do anything to illuminate the space. Rosalyn watched them do this for 5 minutes until it looked like they finally gave up, turned off the flashlight, and headed out of the alleyway. Convinced that she was in the clear, Rosalyn sighed in deep relief as though a boulder was just lifted off her shoulders and with quiet movements, she started to climb down from the fire escape; her breathing still slightly labored from the leftover adrenaline still in her system. But one slippery misstep and her forcible grabbing of the ladder was all it took to send it careening to the ground, rusted metal grinded loudly against itself before coming g to an abrupt stop and tossing her off, her back colliding with the damp pavement with her head taking most of the impact. 

A spasm of pain exploded in her skull and sent a throbbing sensation throughout both sides of her temple, making her grit her teeth in agony while she tried to get herself off of the ground. Just as she started to sit up, feeling the cold air make contact with the water on her back, the sound of heavy and fast footsteps coming towards Rosalyn reminded her of the danger she was in, and once again, adrenaline surged through her body and forced her upright. But her next attempt at escape ended in vain when a gloved hand grabbed her by her hair and pulled her upward so that she was now on her feet, but still struggling with what little strength she had left. Even when her screams were muffled by the feeling of cloth being shoved into her mouth by the other gloved hand until it was touching the back of her throat, making it difficult to spit it out. Having her own screams chocked back and burning her whole throat brought tears to Rosalyn's eyes, not that this guy gave a shit about her pain. 

But much to her immediate dismay and relief, she didn’t have to carry on like this for much longer until she felt the familiar sting of a needle being shoved in the back of her neck. Rosalyn’s eyes now went wider than dinner plates with her heart hammering in her chest and the adrenaline that was shoved through the rest of her body was coming to a halt. Giving way to complete fatigue and exhaustion, her body and eyelids feeling  heavy before going slack, shutting down completely. 


End file.
